Watchtower
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* {{Card|Royal Seal}}, since the benefit becomes a bit redundant | * {{Card|Royal Seal}}, since the benefit becomes a bit redundant | ||
* {{Card|Library}}, since Watchtower is an inferior engine card | * {{Card|Library}}, since Watchtower is an inferior engine card | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Alternate versions == | ||
+ | <gallery> | ||
+ | File:WatchtowerDigital.jpg|Digital version for [[Dominion Online]] | ||
+ | </gallery> | ||
== Trivia == | == Trivia == |
Revision as of 10:32, 28 November 2015
Watchtower | |
---|---|
Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action - Reaction |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Prosperity |
Illustrator(s) | Rick Hershey |
Card text | |
Draw until you have 6 cards in hand. When you gain a card, you may reveal this from your hand. If you do, either trash that card, or put it on top of your deck. |
Watchtower is an Action–Reaction card from Prosperity. It is useful in certain engines and as a defense against many attacks—its Action effect defends against handsize attacks and its reaction against junking attacks. It reacts any time a card is gained, including when you gain one during your or another player's turn, allowing you to trash the card or put it on top of your deck. In some situations this will allow you to use the new card on your current turn (or at least the very next turn).
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- When you play this, you draw cards one at a time until you have 6 cards in hand. If you have 6 or more cards in hand already, you do not draw any cards.
- When you gain a card, even on someone else's turn, you may reveal Watchtower from your hand, to either trash the gained card or put it on top of your deck.
- You may reveal Watchtower each time you gain a card; for example if another player plays Mountebank, you may use Watchtower to trash both the Curse and Copper, or to trash the Curse and put the Copper on top of your deck, or just to trash the Curse, and so on.
- You still did gain whatever card you gained; you just immediately trash it. So if Mountebank gives you a Curse and you trash it, the Curse pile will go down by one as the Curse gets moved to the trash pile.
- You may reveal Watchtower on your own turn as well, for example when buying a card, or gaining a card via something like Expand.
- If you use Watchtower to put a card on your deck but have no cards left in your deck, you do not shuffle; the gained card becomes the only card in your deck.
- Revealing Watchtower does not take it out of your hand; you could reveal Watchtower on multiple opponents' turns and still have it on your turn to draw up to 6 with.
- When cards are gained during a Possession turn (from Dominion:Alchemy), the player who played Possession is the one who can use Watchtower, not the player who is being possessed.
- If a gained card is going somewhere other than to your discard pile, such as a card gained with Mine (from Dominion), you can still use Watchtower to trash it or put it on your deck.
Other Rules clarifications
Strictly speaking, Watchtower is revealed after you gain a card—so the gained card first goes to your discard pile (or wherever it was originally headed) and then is moved from there to the trash or your deck. This is different from the case of cards like Develop, which put a gained card directly on your deck without "visiting" the discard pile on the way. This is sometimes relevant for interactions with the lose-track rule: if a card is gained to the discard pile, but some other on-gain effect first causes it to be moved or otherwise lost track of, Watchtower will fail to trash or top-deck it.
Strategy Article
Original article by theory
At , Watchtower was the most expensive Reaction until the release of Cornucopia, but well worth the price. It is one of the most versatile cards in the game, and one of the few Actions that provides a benefit even without playing it.
First, and most obviously, Watchtower is a devastating defense card against Curse-givers. Not only does it block the Curse from entering your deck, it actually trashes the Curse, meaning that an attack-heavy opponent will soon find himself running out of Curses to give. (Compare to Moat, which, against a Witch-heavy player, only delays the inevitable.) Although it provides no defense against “deck-inspection” attacks (e.g. Spy, Thief, Pirate Ship, Rabble), it does subtly defend against handsize-reduction attacks by allowing you to draw back up to 6.
Second, if you’re willing to hold onto Watchtower and not play it, it works as a mini-Royal Seal, minus the . There are some ridiculous ways to take advantage of this; most powerful is probably playing a Talisman, buying a Treasure Map, gaining another one, and putting them both on the deck! More commonly, you can buy something like Village/Smithy or Throne Room/[some other action] and ensure that you draw them together next turn. Even when you just have one buy, Watchtower can make sure you play important attack cards before your opponent gets a chance to.
Third, and this is a very specialized use, Watchtower greatly increases the power of Goons. Ordinarily, Goons-heavy players will avoid buying too many Coppers for VP tokens for fear of weighing down their deck. Watchtower solves this problem by trashing the Coppers as they come in, while still collecting the VP tokens.
Finally, Watchtower can form part of a good card-drawing engine. Although Library is superior (both because it draws more cards, and also because it can discard unwanted Actions), Watchtower is much cheaper and fulfills other roles as well. In addition, drawing a dead Watchtower (either because you have no Actions left, or because your hand size is very large already) is much less of a liability than a dead Library because of its other uses, as noted above. It is especially useful with Vault.
With the release of Dark Ages, Watchtower gained a new use - activating on-trash abilities : ▪ Ironworks a Fortress, and instantly trash it to put it in your hand ! ▪ Workshop a Feodum, and instantly trash it for three Silvers, which can go directly on top of your deck ! ▪ Upgrade a Fortress into a Cultist... and instantly trash the Cultist for +3 cards ! ▪ Use a spare Buy to buy a Curse, instantly trashing it to activate your Market Square ! ▪ Buy and trash a Squire, and gain a topdecked Familiar without even needing a Potion !
Synergies/Combos
- Festival, Fishing Village, University, and other +Actions that do not draw cards
- Especially University, since the combo allows you to gain a Action, top-deck it, draw it, and immediately play it.
- Goons
- Vault
- Talisman, or other sources of multiple Buys
- Opponent's Curse-giving attacks (Witch, Mountebank, Torturer)
- Handsize-reducing attacks (Militia, Goons, Torturer, Ghost Ship)
- Cache
- Cards with when-trashed abilities: Feodum, Market Square, Fortress, Rats (sort of), Cultist, Sir Vander, Squire.
Antisynergies
- Cards that increase hand size (e.g., Laboratory/Alchemist, Caravan/Wharf, Tactician)
- Attacks that it does not defend against (Pirate Ship being the most important)
- Royal Seal, since the benefit becomes a bit redundant
- Library, since Watchtower is an inferior engine card
Alternate versions
Digital version for Dominion Online
Trivia
In other languages
- Czech: Strážní věž
- Dutch: Uitkijktoren
- Finnish: Vartiotorni
- French: Mirador
- German: Wachturm
- Italian: Torre di Guardia
- Japanese: 望楼 (pron. bōrō)
- Spanish: Atalaya
Secret History