Flag Bearer

Flag Bearer
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Renaissance
Illustrator(s)	Grant Hansen
Card text
+ When you gain or trash this, take the Flag.

Flag Bearer is an Action card from Renaissance. It is a terminal silver that gets you its corresponding Artifact, the Flag, when it is gained or trashed.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• When you gain or trash a Flag Bearer, you take the Flag.
• If Flag Bearer is trashed, the player trashing it takes the Flag, regardless of whose turn it is.

Strategy

Flag Bearer is a weak card which players generally only gain in order to get the Artifact Flag. Flag Bearer is a terminal silver that provides no other benefit on play, and as such is usually a poor use of terminal space, but the hand size increase provided by Flag is highly useful.

The primary consideration with Flag Bearer is that the first player to gain a Flag Bearer gets less value out of it, as they do not deny draw from their opponents by taking away the Flag. Given this first-mover disadvantage, it is generally not advisable to take the first Flag Bearer, with two main exceptions. First, if you know your opponent is not likely to generate or is going to buy something else on their coming turn(s), taking the Flag Bearer first may give you enough turns with the Flag’s additional draw to be worth it. Second, if Flag Bearer isn’t a bad card in your deck because you either need and have plenty of terminal space or can use it with trash for benefit, and there isn’t a better alternative, it can be fine to gain the first Flag Bearer. It’s still likely, however, that the second-mover will be able to retake the Flag to their advantage. These two exceptions are more likely to occur in the midgame or endgame, and as such it is very rarely advisable to open with Flag Bearer.

You should not contest the Flag in all Kingdoms. In games that last fewer turns, the Flag has less time to pay off. There’s also an opportunity cost to Flag Bearer, as it may be competing at with powerful cards such as Silk Merchant, which may be better for your deck. Kingdoms with lots of draw available may also make the Flag’s benefit marginal.

Note that you immediately reap the benefits of the Flag on the turn you take it: i.e., you’ll immediately draw an extra card on the Clean-up of that turn. Because you draw a card during Clean-up rather than during the start of your next turn (as with a Hireling), your increased hand size is already present during your opponents’ turns. This makes you particularly vulnerable to discarding attacks. Another player could play a Militia and make you discard 3 cards instead of 2, greatly reducing the Flag’s benefit.

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. Caveat emptor.

• Simulations of Flag Bearer Big Money

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+ When you gain or trash this, take the Flag.	Renaissance	November 2018

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	舉旗手 (pron. jǔqíshǒu)
Dutch	Vaandeldrager			+ Als je deze kaart pakt of vernietigt, neem het Vaandel.
French	Porte-drapeau			+ Quand vous recevez ou écartez cette carte, prenez le Drapeau.
German	Fahnenträger			+ Wenn du diese Karte nimmst oder entsorgst, erhalte die Fahne.
Japanese	旗手 (pron. kishu)			+ これを獲得または廃棄するとき、旗を得る。
Polish	Chorąży				Although Polish version is not released, this name is referred to in Polish Dominion 2E rulebook.
Russian	Знаменосец (pron. znamyenocyets, lit. standard bearer)
Spanish	Abanderado			+ Cuando ganas o eliminas esta carta, tomas la bandera.

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Flag Bearer comes with a Flag. If someone takes it away from you, just buy another one. How many Flag Bearers can your deck tolerate, anyway? Well you can also trash them to get the Flag, so that won't always be an issue.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Renaissance Previews #4: Flag Bearer, Swashbuckler, Treasurer

Secret History

Originally you took the Flag when you played it. Well at some point maybe you are drawing your decks and you just pass it back and forth. That isn't so great. I briefly tried only getting the Flag if Flag Bearer was your first play of the turn; then if you're drawing your decks it just sits there on the player who got lucky. Also bad. Changing it to when-gain/trash fixed it up every which way; anyone could take it on their turn, so it's not "those two are fighting over that, let them," and yet the cost varies (maybe this turn you have ) and gets higher over time (how many of these Flag Bearers can my deck really handle).

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of Dominion: Renaissance

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