Donate
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* If you gain the first {{Card|Province}} on the same turn you buy Donate, you can choose the order of the effects of Donate and {{Landmark|Mountain Pass}}. | * If you gain the first {{Card|Province}} on the same turn you buy Donate, you can choose the order of the effects of Donate and {{Landmark|Mountain Pass}}. | ||
* Remember that you draw your normal hand during Clean-up before this. This means that if you drew fewer cards than normal during Clean-up (due to {{Card|Outpost}} or your -1 Card token), or drew more cards than normal (due to {{Artifact|Flag}} or {{Event|Expedition}}), Donate will reset it to 5 cards afterwards. | * Remember that you draw your normal hand during Clean-up before this. This means that if you drew fewer cards than normal during Clean-up (due to {{Card|Outpost}} or your -1 Card token), or drew more cards than normal (due to {{Artifact|Flag}} or {{Event|Expedition}}), Donate will reset it to 5 cards afterwards. | ||
| − | * If cards end up in your discard pile while Donating (e.g. you discard a {{Card|Market Square}} and gain a {{Card|Gold}}), Donate doesn't shuffle them into your deck (although they may get | + | * If cards end up in your discard pile while Donating (e.g. you discard a {{Card|Market Square}} and gain a {{Card|Gold}}), Donate doesn't shuffle them into your deck (although they may get reshuffled when you draw +5 Cards at the end of resolving Donate). |
* If you trash a {{Card|Fortress}} with Donate, it goes into the trash, then back into your hand, and then gets shuffled into your deck. | * If you trash a {{Card|Fortress}} with Donate, it goes into the trash, then back into your hand, and then gets shuffled into your deck. | ||
| − | * Cards you gain or trash during Donate are not counted for cards like {{Card|Smugglers}}, {{Card|Treasure Hunter}}, or {{Card|Goatherd}}. | + | * Cards you gain or trash during Donate are not counted as cards gained or trashed "on your turn", which matters for cards like {{Card|Smugglers}}, {{Card|Treasure Hunter}}, or {{Card|Goatherd}}. |
== Strategy == | == Strategy == | ||
Revision as of 00:50, 16 June 2021
| Donate | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Info | |
| Cost |
 |
| Type | Event |
| Set |
Empires |
| Illustrator(s) | Martin Hoffmann |
| Event text | |
| After this turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 5 cards. | |
Donate is an Event from Empires. It is a trasher with a Debt cost. It is perhaps the strongest trasher in the game, able to trash any number of cards from the buyer's entire deck.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- Effects that happen due to trashing cards (such as Rocks') will happen before you shuffle.
- This happens between turns, and so Possession (from Dominion: Alchemy) will no longer be doing anything.
Other rules clarifications
- The game ends at the end of a turn; it cannot end between turns.
- If the game ends the same turn you buy Donate, then the game is over and Donate's effect will not happen after that turn.
- If sufficient piles to end the game are emptied during Donate's effect (such as by trashing Hunting Grounds or Catacombs), the next player takes their turn and then you check if the game still ends.
- Cards played between turns (for example by trashing a Hunting Grounds to gain a Duchy and play Sheepdog) are discarded during the next Clean-up that happens (whether or not it's your turn or not).
- If you activate an ability that grants you an extra turn, such as playing Outpost, on the same turn you buy Donate, the Donate effect happens before the extra turn.
- If you gain the first Province on the same turn you buy Donate, you can choose the order of the effects of Donate and Mountain Pass.
- Remember that you draw your normal hand during Clean-up before this. This means that if you drew fewer cards than normal during Clean-up (due to Outpost or your -1 Card token), or drew more cards than normal (due to Flag or Expedition), Donate will reset it to 5 cards afterwards.
- If cards end up in your discard pile while Donating (e.g. you discard a Market Square and gain a Gold), Donate doesn't shuffle them into your deck (although they may get reshuffled when you draw +5 Cards at the end of resolving Donate).
- If you trash a Fortress with Donate, it goes into the trash, then back into your hand, and then gets shuffled into your deck.
- Cards you gain or trash during Donate are not counted as cards gained or trashed "on your turn", which matters for cards like Smugglers, Treasure Hunter, or Goatherd.
Strategy
Donate is a centralizing Event that rewards calculation and careful planning by offering massive acceleration towards clean decks very early, with relatively little room for shuffle luck to matter. Donate's strength arises from the fact that it's the fastest trasher in almost any Kingdom and often makes it very easy to build a strong deck from a very clean starting position. Donate’s cost is high, but because it is Debt it can be paid off over multiple turns.
Donate works well with cards that can take advantage of the otherwise unproductive turns that you spend paying off the Debt. Gainers that you can open with (e.g. Groom) are the most common examples of such. Attacks are also possible candidates, with handsize attacks such as Militia significantly hurting your opponents, who likely have very good 5-card hands and no draw at this stage of the game. Travellers are also good options for this, as you can start advancing them quickly up the line.
In Kingdoms with Donate it’s often possible to plan out the first 4 or 5 turns precisely. The main question is usually on which turn to buy it, and the answer is often dependent on your opening split and what the Kingdom offers. Generally speaking, Donate lessens the need for early trashers, draw, and other forms of deck control, and allows you to essentially start building a deck with payload cards (especially gainers) first. Some common patterns are as follows:
- Turn 1 Donate: This is a less common option because it usually involves keeping 5 Coppers, but it can be a viable strategy to Donate on turn 1 to a deck of 5 Coppers, pay off the debt on turn 2, buy an important
card such as Treasurer on turn 3, and hope it doesn’t bottomdeck on turn 4.
- Turn 2 Donate: One of the more common options. Usually bought in order to benefit from having one opening buy in deck, and to avoid having to rely on drawing a good turn 3 hand. An example of this is opening with Silver/Donate on a
/
opening split, then Donating down to 3 Coppers and the Silver in order to buy a Haggler on turn 4. Another example on a / opening split is opening with Ironworks on turn 1, Donating on turn 2 to the Ironworks and 3 Coppers, gaining a Silver with the Ironworks and paying off Debt on turn 3, then gaining another Silver and buying a on turn 4.
- Turn 3 or Turn 4 Donate: Also among the more common options. Usually taken in order to benefit from having two opening buys in deck, but is more dependent on shuffle luck than Donating earlier. Depending on which cards you draw on turn 3, you can decide whether to wait until turn 4 to Donate. If, for example, you open with Inventor and Stockpile with the goal of buying and gaining multiple Stockpiles and also buying Donate on turn 3, but instead draw 2 Coppers and 3 Estates, you’ll likely prefer to wait until turn 4 to Donate, leaving you a turn or more behind an opponent who adopts a similar strategy but gets luckier draws.
- Donating later: It is very rare to Donate for the first time later than turn 4, as this would mean wasting time drawing through your bad starting cards. It is not that rare, however, to Donate a second time later in the game to clean up either leftover Coppers or junk from junking attacks.
- Skipping Donate entirely: It is very rare to fully skip Donate, as it’s often just a faster way of getting to an ideal deck than the alternatives. Kingdoms with Pixie and therefore Goat are possible exceptions, as the Goat can thin decks fairly quickly without needing to take on .
Fairly rare tactical uses for Donate include using it to skip bad shuffles, and drawing a 5-card hand for your Outpost turn, as Donate is an expensive way to guarantee you shuffle almost your whole deck and draw a new 5-card hand.
Notable synergies
- Market Square - Combo: Donate and Market Square
- Feodum can be opened alongside Donate for an early economy boost.
External strategy articles
Note: Article(s) below are by individual authors and may not represent the community's current views on cards, but may provide more in-depth information or give historical perspective. Caveat emptor.
Versions
English versions
| Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
 |
After this turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 5 cards. | Empires | June 2016 |
Other language versions
| Language | Name | Digital | Text | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Donatie (lit. gift) | |||
| Finnish | Lahjoitus (lit. donation) | |||
| French | Donation | |||
| German | Spende |  |
Nach diesem Zug: Nimm alle Karten deines Nachzieh- und deines Ablagestapels auf die Hand und entsorge beliebig viele. Mische deine Handkarten und lege sie als Nachziehstapel bereit. Ziehe 5 Karten. | |
| Japanese | 寄付 (pron. kifu) | このターンの後、山札、捨て札置き場のカードすべてを手札に加え、そこから好きな枚数のカードを廃棄し、手札すべてを山札に混ぜシャッフルする。その後5枚カードを引く。 | ||
| Polish | Datek |  |
||
| Russian | Пожертвование (pron. pozhyertvovaniye) |
Trivia
Secret History
This started out costing 
. It was too swingy, and I fixed it by making it . Now we can all figure out a plan for when to get it and it doesn't come down to draws, you can just always get it. At first it happened in Clean-up, but I had to move it to between turns due to Possession.
. It was too swingy, and I fixed it by making it . Now we can all figure out a plan for when to get it and it doesn't come down to draws, you can just always get it. At first it happened in Clean-up, but I had to move it to between turns due to Possession.Retrospective
Donate shouldn't be in-between turns (which was to dodge Possession, but it's not like that makes the Donate / Possession game playable). Otherwise, no regrets. I'm checking the skill multiplier, it's 1.09. Donate gives the players plenty to think about. These extreme nearly mandatory things, you can think of as changing the rules rather than being like regular cards / card-shaped things.
Errata
There should not be stuff happening between-turns (except for determining whose turn is next, which Outpost etc. can safely mess with). Why is there? Because of the interaction between Donate and Possession (it's not that you trash all their stuff, which doesn't matter since Possession gives it back; it's that you empty their hand). The correct thing there was to give up on that; that game is still awful, there was no fixing it. [...]
Will I ever fix Donate and Mountain Pass to not be between turns? Man, maybe. I don't need to make that decision today.
