Chariot Race

Chariot Race
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Empires
Illustrator(s)	Kurt Miller
Card text
+1 Action Reveal the top card of your deck and put it into your hand. The player to your left reveals the top card of their deck. If your card costs more, + and +1 .

Chariot Race is an Action card from Empires. It is a cantrip that generally rewards you with and   tokens if you have more expensive cards than your opponent.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• You and the player to your left reveal your top cards; yours goes into your hand, theirs goes back on their deck.
• If your card cost more you get + and +1 ; you can put the   token on the Chariot Race to remind you that it made + this turn.
• If it is a tie, your card did not cost more.
• With , your card costs more only if both and amounts are larger, or one is larger and the other the same.
• For example Fortune () costs more than Overlord (), but Overlord does not cost more than Silver, and Silver does not cost more than Overlord.
• If either player has no card to reveal, your card does not cost more.

Other Rules clarifications

• cards never cost more or less than cards costing .
• Just like -costs, cards only cost more than another card if both the and amounts are larger, or one is larger and one the same. This means that Familiar costs more than Farmers' Market and Apothecary, but it does not cost more than Forum.

Strategy

Chariot Race is a cantrip that can act as a Peddler variant and source of alt-VP, although it does so only unreliably. Whether you activate its bonuses is generally dependent on a mix of luck and the composition of your deck relative to that of your opponent’s. Because 1  is worth significantly more than , Chariot Race is typically more important as a source of   than as -generating payload, and its relevance in a Kingdom is mostly tied to how likely it is to activate, how frequently you can play it, and how much the extra scoring matters. It therefore tends to provide the best value when you can thin your starting cards (or control which cards Chariot Race reveals) and consistently play many copies, potentially scoring as much   as a Province each turn. If scoring is otherwise difficult, for example in a single-gain Kingdom, a small difference in   scored using Chariot Race may be decisive.

Because your chance of revealing a winning card with Chariot Race is dependent on the average price of the cards in your deck, raising this average is particularly important in a game where you anticipate that Chariot Race will play a significant role. This may involve adding expensive cards to your deck, but trashing your cheap starting junk is usually the more critical component and may be an even higher priority than usual. Getting rid of cards such as Copper and Curse is particularly important, as they are both guaranteed never to win on your own turn and a potentially major liability if your opponent is able to play multiple Chariot Races at once while one of these cards is on top of your deck. Because gaining many Chariot Races is likely to push the average price of cards in a deck towards , cards costing or can become similarly risky as the game proceeds. This also means that, particularly in a mirror, winning the Chariot Race split can be slightly counterproductive: although you get more plays of Chariot Race, you might not win many comparisons if your opponent is building by gaining many or cards. For this reason, it’s usually best to prioritize building a strong deck in the early and midgame, adding Chariot Race later or when the opportunity cost is low.

Effects that synergize with Chariot Race generally help in one of two ways: either by manipulating your own deck, or by manipulating your opponent’s.

1. It’s generally more efficient to have control over the top card of your opponent’s deck via an effect such as Jester, as doing so can remove very expensive cards (such as Province) and set up a single card for multiple Chariot Races. If you have access to such an effect and will play multiple Chariot Races, it is typically best to play one of them to learn what the top card of their deck is, and then decide whether to change it. Once you do find a good target, it’s likely best to avoid manipulating your opponent’s deck until after you play all of your Chariot Races; for example, this might mean delaying drawing with Council Room.
2. Deck inspectors are the most straightforward way to set up your deck for Chariot Race comparisons, with those that can order multiple cards (e.g. Cartographer) being the most effective. Other ways to set up cards may include topdecking them (e.g. with Courtyard or Artificer) or revealing them (e.g. with Patrician), but may be less appealing because they only work for a single Chariot Race. One potentially effective way to set up multiple cards is by using sifters: if you can draw most of your deck, you can set up your discard pile with your most expensive cards, trigger a reshuffle, and draw through it with Chariot Races.

Chariot Race can be slightly less productive in Kingdoms where players are likely to have many cards with unusual cost cards (i.e. or ), since it can be difficult to win comparisons with or against them. For example, if your opponent has several Overlords, you may need to invest in a way to change the top card of their deck.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+1 Action Reveal the top card of your deck and put it into your hand. The player to your left reveals the top card of their deck. If your card costs more, + and +1 .	Empires	June 2016

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Dutch	Strijdwagenrace
Finnish	Vaunukisat
French	Course de chars
German	Wagenrennen			+1 Aktion Du und dein linker Mitspieler decken die oberste Karte ihres Nachziehstapels auf. Nimm deine aufgedeckte Karte auf die Hand. Wenn deine Karte mehr kostet: + und +1 -Marker	(2016)
German	Wagenrennen			+1 Aktion Decke die oberste Karte deines Nachziehstapels auf und nimm sie auf die Hand. Dein linker Mitspieler deckt die oberste Karte seines Nachziehstapels auf. Wenn deine Karte mehr kostet: + und +1	2. Edition (2021)
Japanese	戦車競走 (pron. senshakyōsō)			+1 アクション 山札のー番上のカードを公開し、手札に加える。 左隣のプレイヤーは目分の山札のー番上のカードを公開する。あなたのカードのほうがコストが高い場合、+、 +1 。
Polish	Wyścig rydwanów			+1 akcja Odkryj kartę z wierzchu swojej talii i weź ją na rękę. Gracz po twojej lewej odkrywa kartę z wierzchu swojej talii. Jeżeli twoja karta jest droższa, + i +1 .	(2017)
Russian	Гонки на Колесницах (pron. gonki na kolyesnitsakh)

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Chariot Race is a funny one. You get a card (the one you reveal) and an Action no matter what; you also get + and +1  if your card is costlier than theirs. Their card is the same all turn usually, so after the first Chariot Race you will know what your other Chariot Races are up against.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Empires Previews #3: VP Tokens

Secret History

The question here was what to do with the other player's card. If you leave it on top, Chariot Race has the same competition all turn, although your own card varies. If you discard it or put it on the bottom, it feels too much like an attack. It went back and forth but ended up leaving the card on top.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Empires Cards

Donald X.'s remarks on swinginess of the card

During playtesting, Chariot Race was a popular card. The fact that your opponent might reveal Copper or Province and lock in your Chariot Races for the turn did not in any way ruin it for us. It's not that we never played multiple Chariot Races; man, how could that be. I've played five a turn plenty of times. And I personally am a fan of the card, despite that.

I am looking through a playtesting thread for competitive players and hey here's Stef. He preferred Chariot Race leaving the card on top. He didn't like the randomness, on the receiving end, of getting your card turned over; the randomness on the other side is simply the price you pay for going for Chariot Races. And you even get to affect that sometimes.

So it's not like there's some straight divide, competitive players preferring it one way and casual players the other.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Don't bother getting the yellow cards out of the box

I always like to point out, hours after people complain about Chariot Race, that Smithies are also anti-skill, but don't get the same negative hype...Sometimes you line up Smithy with Village, sometimes you don't; sometimes you play it anyway and draw dead cards, sometimes treasures. It's just the nature of Smithies.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2020