Sculptor

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Sculptor
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Renaissance
Illustrator(s)	Jessi J
Card text
Gain a card to your hand costing up to . If it's a Treasure, +1 Villager.

Sculptor is an Action card from Renaissance. It gains a card to your hand, and gives you a Villager if you gained a Treasure.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• The card is gained to your hand; that is not optional.
• If you gain a Nomad Camp (from Hinterlands) with this, it goes to your hand.

Strategy

Overview

Sculptor, much like Artisan, draws its power from the fact that the card is gained to your hand instead of your discard pile. Unlike Artisan, however, you do not reduce your hand size, which allows for some powerful synergies, mentioned below. It can be tricky when considering whether to get Actions or Treasures, so it is worth closer examination.

Deck impact

How does Sculptor affect your deck?

• Accelerated building: Like other gainers, you will be able to pick up more engine pieces. Unlike the cheaper Workshop, Sculptor may enable you play the gained card right away, preventing any tempo loss other than the action Sculptor consumed. However, in order to play the gained card you need a spare action, or to have gained a Treasure (usually this will be a Silver).
• In turn flexibility: Did you run out of draw, or need an extra buy, but have actions to spare? Sculptor is here to help you out: much like Artisan, Sculptor can save you from those bad turns in which your deck wasn't on your side. Unlike Artisan, you can't gain and topdeck an Action if you're out of terminals this turn, but that's where Villagers from earlier in the game or a village played earlier this turn helps.
• Villager buffer: Having at least one Villager is a huge help that will make your deck much more consistent, and is almost always something you want. While Sculptor does not excel in that regard, it is certainly a nice upside to be able gain a Silver to potentially save you at some later time.
• Increased need of villages: Playing Sculptor and the card you gained will consume two actions. While Sculptor can gain a village to hand, which makes it action-neutral, you need a village or Villager ready first. Having an extra village already in your deck helps make use of Sculptor's full potential.

Use in engines

When you are building an engine and drawing your deck, gaining a Silver is rarely the right move. Many players commonly make the mistake of gaining a Silver when they would not be able to gain an Action and play it immediately. Gaining a Silver is best limited to when

1. You need to spike your economy this turn to afford something that impacts the game majorly, such as Inheritance or Citadel, or
2. You know you will have terminal draw or a collision in your next hand, and getting +1 Villager now will save your upcoming turn.

Use in money decks

While Sculptor on its own is not enough to make money dominant or competitive on most boards, it is a significant boost to a deck already pursuing a money strategy. In these decks, Silver is something you happily add, and that turns Sculptor into a much better Explorer, until late into the game. Compared to Explorer, you either get an extra Villager when gaining a Silver or have the option to make use of Sculptor's great flexibility to gain whatever you currently need.

With cost reduction

Sculptor has synergies with cost reduction that are very important:

1. Sculptor can gain cards costing or more (including Duchy and Sculptor itself), which are usually much more powerful than cards costing or less.
2. A single Sculptor lets you can gain as many Sculptors as you have unused actions or Villagers. You can empty the Sculptor pile with a single Sculptor if you have claimed Academy or played Champion.
3. Throne Rooms allow you to empty both their pile and the Sculptor pile, without additional actions. Play one Throne Room, then you will enter a loop of playing another Throne Room and a Sculptor to gain a Throne Room and a Sculptor. With Procession, you can also pile any other pile costing or .
4. Using a single Scepter on Sculptor also allows you to empty the Sculptor and Scepter piles without needing extra actions.

Synergies/Combos

• Cost reduction
• Money decks
• Villages
• Strong cards costing or less that you want many of
• Alt treasure costing or less, such as Quarry or Potion
• With cost reduction, Scepter allows you to replay sculptor, letting you gain another scepter, which when played lets you replay sculptor, etc. With one play of sculptor you can run out the scepter pile and get +10 villagers.
• Capitalism allows you to gain cards better than silvers, get the villager, and play it this turn, such as Militia, Priest, or Cargo Ship

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		Gain a card to your hand costing up to . If it's a Treasure, +1 Villager.	Renaissance	November 2018

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	雕刻家 (pron. diāokè jiā)
Dutch	Beeldhouwer			Pak een kaart die maximaal kost en neem die in je hand. Is het een Geldkaart, dan +1 Dorpsbewoner.	"…en neem die in je hand. …"
French	Sculptrice (Note: explicitly feminine)			Recevez en main une carte coûtant jusqu'à . Si c'est un Trésor, +1 Villageois.
German	Bildhauerin			Nimm eine Karte auf deine Hand, die bis zu kostet. Ist es eine Geldkarte: +1 Dorfbewohner.	(2019)
Japanese	彫刻家 (pron. chōkoku-ka)			コスト以下のカード1枚を手札に獲得する。それが財宝カードの場合、+1 村人トークン。
Russian	Скульптор (pron. skul'ptor)
Spanish	Escultora			Ganas una carta que cueste hasta y la pones en tu mano. Si es una carta de Tesoro, +1 Aldeano.	"…y la pones, poniéndola en tu mano. …"

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Sculptor is that rare animal, a Workshop that gains cards directly to your hand. Watch out. If you gain an Action you won't necessarily be able to play it that turn... but wait, you might have Villagers from previous plays of Sculptor. They thought of everything.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Renaissance Previews #2: Acting Troupe, Sculptor, Recruiter

Secret History

One of the first cards in the set. It used the "+1 Action every other time" thing like Lackeys, then switched to +1 Villager, and that's that.

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