Grand Market
Grand Market | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set |
Prosperity![]() |
Illustrator(s) | Marcel-André Casasola Merkle |
Card text | |
+1 Card +1 Action +1 Buy + You can’t buy this if you have any Coppers in play. |
Grand Market is an Action card from Prosperity. It is a strong Peddler variant, giving an extra and a +Buy, making it quite powerful if you can get it. Since it cannot be bought with Copper, it can be difficult to get early in the game. However, Grand Markets themselves are a very efficient source of non-Copper money, so having Grand Markets makes it easier to get more Grand Markets.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- A single Copper in play is enough to stop you from buying Grand Market.
- You do not have to play all of the Treasures in your hand.
- Coppers in your hand do not stop you from buying Grand Market - only Coppers in play do.
- Coppers that were in play earlier in the turn but aren't anymore also do not stop you; if you have 11 Coppers in play and 2 Buys, you could buy a Mint, trash all of your played Treasures, and then buy a Grand Market.
- You can gain Grand Market other ways - for example with Expand - whether or not you have Coppers in play.
- Treasures other than Copper do not prevent you from buying Grand Market, even if they are worth Loan). (such as
- Remember you cannot play more Treasures after buying a card.
Strategy
Grand Market is a very strong but expensive cantrip, providing a significant amount of payload (including +Buy) for a card that is neither terminal nor a stop card. Like other Peddler variants, it integrates smoothly into most decks and provides the best value when you can draw and play your whole deck every turn, usually with an engine. Grand Market requires investment in non-Copper payload in order to get off the ground with the purchase of your first copy, but its powerful nature means this investment usually pays off, and once you have a couple of copies, getting more Grand Markets often becomes quite easy. Therefore, getting to this point quickly can often be a priority: not only does this allow you to further increase your deck’s payload rapidly, but contesting the Grand Market split may also be important in and of itself, because having a large number of them provides significant pile control via the large amount of and Buys they generate. Once the Grand Market pile is empty or very low, a three-pile ending becomes quite likely, often involving buying all the Estates in one swoop.
Buying your first Grand Market usually requires both obtaining some degree of deck control (generally via thinning and/or draw) and adding some payload, since you need to generate without playing any Coppers. Copper trashers that provide a benefit, such as Moneylender or Spice Merchant, can be especially helpful for this; a terminal silver, Silver itself, or other non-Copper Treasures (including Heirlooms, notably Cursed Gold) may also be used. Effects that allow you to discard cards to generate (e.g. Storeroom or Vault) can be particularly helpful, as this allows each of your Coppers to generate without being played. Alternatively, it might be possible to obtain a Grand Market without reaching , for example with cost reduction (e.g. Quarry or Ferry), by saving up Coffers, or via manoeuvres like double Transport. Sometimes it may be worth kickstarting your ability to gain Grand Markets by trashing a cheaper card, e.g. using a Remodel variant on a card costing ; Advance provides the most efficient way to do this, as it can transform any Action card into a Grand Market, including a very cheap one obtained specifically for that purpose.
Absent one of the exceptions above, Grand Market’s viability is largely tied to how difficult it is to thin your Coppers, as they affect your ability both to afford Grand Market and to draw it consistently. If the Copper thinning is weak (e.g., Scrap), it may be worth pursuing other payload options. Similarly, you are unlikely to be able to obtain it (or use it to its full potential if you do get a copy or two) on sloggy boards. Since Grand Market is a cantrip, decks with limited draw capabilities appreciate its ability to add payload much more than decks that have strong draw and can afford to add stronger payload stop cards.
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 | Notes | Release | Date | |
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+1 Card +1 Action +1 Buy + You can’t buy this if you have any Copper in play. |
Prosperity | October 2010 | |
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+1 Card +1 Action +1 Buy + You can’t buy this if you have any Coppers in play. |
Digital version has a cost of | rather than .Prosperity (2016 printing) | February 2017 |
Other language versions
Trivia
Preview
Secret History