Turn advantage

Turn advantage is a term describing an advantage for a player based on turn order. Usually, the first player has an advantage, but occasionally the second (or last) player has an advantage, depending on the kingdom. If the first player ends the game, he will have taken one more turn than the second player (and all others), which is a huge advantage, remedied in part by the fact that if the game ends on a tie, the player with the fewest number of turns is the winner.

First player advantage

Generally, cursers give a significant advantage to the first player, because a Curse can be dealt to the second player more quickly. Some other cards besides cursers that provide a first player advantage include:

• Chapel
• Fool's Gold
• Governor

Second player advantage

Sometimes a kingdom will have three viable strategies that can have a "rock-paper-scissors" effect on each other, meaning each strategy will have one other strategy they can beat and one they can lose to, which possibly gives the second player an advantage. Some cards that players consider giving the second player an advantage include:

• Lurker
• Embargo
• Smugglers
• Noble Brigand
• Messenger
• Tax

Alternative views

Shortly after the relase of the base game, Dominion creator Donald X. stated in 2008 that there is no such thing as first-turn advantage, save for the possibility of the first player getting one more turn than the other(s):

I feel that there is no advantage to going first, other than the potential to get an extra turn. Getting to play an attack card first is really very minor, and similarly going later means you know what the other players buy on their first turns before deciding what to buy yourself. And not vice-versa! I have had games where an unusual first-turn buy from me resulted in people scanning the table to see what they'd missed, before they'd had a chance to buy something they'd regret. If I knew I was going to get as many turns as you, I would choose to go last. Getting an extra turn is definitely an advantage. But going first is only an advantage if you get that turn. If you go first but don't get an extra turn, a tiebreaker going to the other guy amounts to just randomly stealing a deserved tie from you.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, http://boardgamegeek.com/article/2809700#2809700