Opening
An opening consists of the cards purchased in the first two turns. The starting deck of each player consists of 7 Coppers and 3 Estates or Shelters. Therefore, if your first hand has 4 Coppers, your second hand will have 3 Coppers, and vice versa. This is called a 4/3 or 3/4 split, respectively. A 5/2 (or 2/5) split means you have a first hand of 5 Coppers and second hand of 2 Coppers (and vice versa).
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Openers
An opener is a card that a player buys on his first or second turn. Some cards are better openers than others. Trashers and cursers tend to be good openers, and opening with a Silver or a terminal Silver is also usually a good idea. Some cards, like Moneylender, Coppersmith, or Baron, are usually either bought as an opener or not at all, due to their interactions with cards in the starting deck. Usually, Villages are poor openers because there are no terminal actions in your deck at first.
Unusual openings
Some cards alter the usual 4/3 or 5/2 split. For example, if you buy a Nomad Camp on your first turn, it goes on the top of your deck, which can result in a 4/5 or 4/4 split. Or, if you buy an Inn your first turn, you can shuffle it into your deck and likely draw it next turn, giving you a 5/3 split. Also your opponents' Noble Brigands discard the top two cards from your deck resulting in various unusual openings.
Examples of strong openers
Examples of strong openings
- Ambassador/Ambassador
- Ambassador/Silver
- Mountebank/Chapel
- Witch/Chapel
- Laboratory/Chapel
- Caravan/Ambassador
