Pawn

Pawn
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Intrigue
Illustrator(s)	Franz Vohwinkel
Card text
Choose two: +1 Card; +1 Action; +1 Buy; +. The choices must be different.

Pawn is an Action card from Intrigue. Depending on what choices you make, it can be many things, including a cantrip and a source of +Buy. It's a very flexible card, with a total of 6 possible choices.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• You pick both things before doing either.
• You cannot pick the same option twice.

Other rules clarifications

• If Pawn is Throne Roomed or King's Courted, the choices do not have to be the same for each play of Pawn.

Strategy

Pawn is a cheap card with six possible modes of play. While it is not very impactful, its low price and flexible nature (including a cantrip mode and the option of +Buy) can make it a relevant support card in a variety of situations. Pawn’s general flexibility means it can adapt to whatever is most needed both throughout the game and over the course of a turn. For example, although a copy that you draw early in your turn might be best played as a cantrip to find more important cards, one that remains in your hand after you’ve drawn your deck can be used for extra payload. Similarly, you can opt to play Pawn as a stop card if you want to avoid triggering a reshuffle. Generally, however, the impact of a Pawn in these situations is low, as a blank cantrip does nothing to improve your deck and per stop card is inefficient.

Pawn is generally best in the following use cases:

• It offers +Buy, and is therefore sometimes essential as the best or only available source of this. Notably, it can provide this non-terminally and it does not hinder your deck control if you draw it in a situation where you can’t make use of this option, meaning that it’s less harmful to buy it in advance of needing the +Buy. Similarly, you can eke extra +Buy out of your deck in the endgame, e.g. to achieve a pileout, by playing more Pawns for this option.
• It can offer non-terminal Action-based while reducing your hand size, which is relevant for decks drawing with Menagerie or draw to X effects.
• It offers payload similarly to a Peddler variant if you have spare terminal space and can play it for +Card and +, for example with Champion or Capitalism.
• It can be useful when cheap cantrips are desirable in general, such as engines that benefit from a high density of non-terminal Action cards (e.g. with Scrying Pool), decks scoring with effects like Vineyard, or strategies using vanilla bonus tokens (e.g., Pathfinding) or specific Ways (e.g., Way of the Mouse).

If one of the above situations apply, amassing Pawns quickly may be desirable, though the relative impact of a single Pawn is still low and pursuing other priorities such as deck control or stronger payload is likely more worthwhile. Otherwise, gaining Pawns when the opportunity cost is low (i.e., a spare Buy and ) tends to be best.

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.

• werothegreat's 2013 article

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		Choose two: +1 Card; +1 Action; +1 Buy; +. (The choices must be different.)	Intrigue 1st Edition	July 2009
		Choose two: +1 Card; +1 Action; +1 Buy; +. The choices must be different.	Intrigue 2nd Edition	October 2016

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	小兵 (pron. xiǎobīng, lit. small soldier)
Czech	Pěšák
Dutch	Pion			Kies twee van de volgende opties: +1 Kaart; of +1 Actie; of +1 Aanschaf; of +	Eerste editie (2009)
Finnish	Apuri (lit. sidekick)
French	Pion
German	Handlanger			Wähle zwei verschiedene Optionen: +1 Karte +1 Aktion +1 Kauf +	2. Edition (2021)
Hungarian	Csatlós (lit. sidekick)
Italian	Pedina
Japanese	手先 (pron. tesaki)			次のうち2つを選ぶ (異なるものを選ぶ): 「+1 カードを引く」:「+1 アクション」 : 「+1 購入」: 「+」。
Korean	졸개 (pron. jolgae, lit. henchmen)
Norwegian	Kongsmann (lit. king's man)
Polish	Giermek (lit. squire)			Wybierz dwie opcje: +1 karta; +1 akcja; +1 zakup; +. (Opcje muszą się różnić).
Russian	Заложник (pron. zalozhnik, lit. hostage, Smart Ltd) Подневольный (pron. podnyevolny, lit. coerced/captive, Dominion Online)			Выберите два разных варианта из четырёх: +1 Карта; +1 Действие; +1 Покупка; +.
Spanish	Peón			Elige dos opciones distintas: +1 Carta; +1 Acción; +1 Compra; +.	First Edition (2009)
	Peón			Elige dos opciones distintas: +1 Carta; +1 Acción; +1 Compra; +.	Second Edition (2016)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

A very early card that never changed (except the name - it was originally called Spare Room). It was considered for the main set for a while but left because it slowed down new players too much. You play Pawn, stare at the card forever, trying to make sure you've considered all of the possibilities, then finally pick +1 card +1 action. The card you draw is another Pawn and somehow you have to reconsider everything. It's one of my personal favorites, but really had to wait for an expansion, so that most players will have played a bunch already.

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

Donald X.'s opinion

As a source of +Buy, Pawn is fine. It's cheap, it vanishes into your deck when you don't need it, sometimes it throws in a coin or card.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2020