Rocks

Rocks
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Treasure
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Empires
Illustrator(s)	Matthias Catrein
Card text
When you gain or trash this: If it's your Buy phase, gain a Silver onto your deck, otherwise gain a Silver to your hand.

Rocks is a Treasure card from Empires. It's part of a split pile, with 5 copies of Rocks sitting under 5 copies of Catapult. Rocks is designed to be the optimal trashing target for Catapult: as a Treasure costing , it allows Catapult to function as both a curser and a handsize attack; and when you gain or trash it you get an extra Silver, which can also serve as ammunition for your Catapults.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• If it is another player's turn, then it is not your Buy phase, so the Silver goes to your hand.

Other rules clarifications

• The Silver is gained directly to your deck or hand; it does not visit your discard pile.

Strategy

Refer to the Catapult strategy section.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		When you gain or trash this, gain a Silver; if it is your Buy phase, put the Silver on your deck, otherwise put it into your hand.	Empires	June 2016
		When you gain or trash this: If it's your Buy phase, gain a Silver onto your deck, otherwise gain a Silver to your hand.		January 29, 2021

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Dutch	Rotsblokken (lit. boulders)
Finnish	Kivet
French	Rocher (lit. rock)
German	Felsen			Wenn du diese Karte nimmst oder entsorgst, nimm dir ein Silber. Geschieht dies in deiner Kaufphase, lege das Silber auf deinen Nachziehstapel, ansonsten nimm es auf die Hand.	(2016)
	Felsen			Wenn du diese Karte nimmst oder entsorgst, nimm ein Silber; wenn es deine Kaufphase ist, lege das Silber auf deinen Nachziehstapel, ansonsten nimm es auf deine Hand.	2. Edition (2021)
	Felsen			Wenn du diese Karte nimmst oder entsorgst: Ist es deine Kaufphase, nimm ein Silber auf deinen Nachziehstapel, ansonsten nimm ein Silber auf deine Hand.
Japanese	石 (pron. ishi)			これを獲得または廃棄するとき、銀貨1枚を獲得する。あなたの購入フェイズ中の場合、それを山札の上に置き、それ以外の場合、手札に加える。
Polish	Głazy			Kiedy dodajesz albo wyrzucasz na śmietnisko tę kartę, dodaj Srebrnika; jeżeli trwa twoja faza zakupu, połóż tego Srebrnika na wierzchu swojej talii, w przeciwnym wypadku weź go na rękę.	(2017)
Russian	Булыжники (pron. bulyzhniki, lit. cobblestones)

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

As it happens Rocks is a Treasure costing , and does something useful when gained or trashed; it's just the perfect thing to Catapult. And it's called Rocks! I couldn't help myself.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Empires Previews #2: Split Piles

Secret History

Rocks started out with "when gain/trash, +2 Cards, may trash 2 cards from hand." It wasn't everything I wanted and I replaced that with gaining Silver to your hand, then your choice of hand or deck top. Then to avoid confusion it took the destination choice away and based it on the phase, so you weren't all, wait if I put Silver in my hand after buying Rocks, can I play the Silver?

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

When-trash effect

Bureaucrat gains Silver to make it hard to set up a pin with it. Rocks gains Silver so you can Catapult the Silver. Gaining that Silver to hand and then immediately discarding it isn't fun for anyone really. At least someone out there likes getting the Silver next turn. Though it's fair to say "why do any of that, just gain a Silver, way simpler."

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2023