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{{Cardbox|
{{Infobox Card
|Card = Tactician
|name = Tactician
|Cost = 5
|cost = 5
|Set = Seaside
|type1 = Action
|Type = [[Action]] - [[Duration]]
|type2 = Duration
|Illustrator = Martin Hoffmann
|illustrator = Martin Hoffmann
|Text = Discard your hand. If you discarded any cards this way, then at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards; +1 Buy; and +1 Action.
|text = If you have at least one card in hand: Discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, '''+5 Cards''', '''+1 Action''', and '''+1 Buy'''.
}}
}}
'''Tactician''' is an [[Action]] and [[Duration]] card from [[Seaside]]. Tactician allows you to discard your hand this turn in order to essentially double your next turn: you get five [[duration draw|extra cards]] in addition to one extra [[buy]] and one extra [[action]].


== FAQ ==
== FAQ ==
=== Official FAQ ===
=== Official FAQ ===
*You wait until the start of your next turn to draw the 5 extra cards; you don’t draw them at the end of the turn you played Tactician.
* If you have no cards in hand, then Tactician does nothing more and is discarded in the same turn's Clean-up.  
*Tactician stays out in front of you until the Clean-up phase of your next turn.  
* If you do have at least one card, you discard your hand, Tactician stays in play, and at the start of your next turn you get +5 Cards, +1 Buy, and +1 Action (and Tactician is discarded that turn).  
*Because you must discard at least one card in order to gain the bonuses from Tactician, it is not possible to Throne Room a Tactician to get + 10 cards, +2 Buys, and + 2 Actions. You will have to discard all of your cards with the first Tactician and you will not have cards left in your hand to trigger the card drawing or the extra Buy or the extra Action when you play Tactician for the second time.
* If you use {{Card|Throne Room}} on Tactician, you will discard your hand on the first play and will have no cards in hand for the second play (and so will not get the bonuses from it).
 
== Strategy Article ==
''[http://dominionstrategy.com/2012/04/10/seaside-tactician/ Original article] by theory
 
Tactician highlights the general Dominion principle that one good thing is usually better than two mediocre things.  There are two very different ways to play Tactician: Single Tactician, which is how you’d normally think of the card, and Double Tactician, a more advanced technique that sacrifices the ability to play Treasure in exchange for a ten-card hand every turn.


===Single Tactician===
=== Other Rules clarifications ===
* You can {{Card|Throne Room}} a Tactician, but (under ordinary circumstances) you do not get any extra cards (as described above). Still the Throne Room (or its [[Throne Room variant|variants]]) stays in play.
* Like all Duration cards, Tactician only stays in play during your Clean-up phase if it will do something in a future turn. So, if you play Tactician but do not discard any cards, it will have no effect on your next turn and should be discarded during the same turn's Clean-up phase.
* When the [[Adventures tokens|+1 Card token]] is on Tactician, using a [[Throne Room variant]] on it becomes meaningful as it provides you a card to discard each time Tactician is played again.


Tactician is an easy solution to two big Dominion problems:
== Strategy ==


#Putting two pieces of a combo together.  Your [[Tournament]] doesn’t always find [[Province]], and your [[King's Court]] doesn’t always meet a good Action to play it with.  Tactician doesn’t technically “solve” this problem, but it sure makes it a lot easier to link up combo pieces. Use Tactician to backdoor into a [[Treasure Map]] activation, or play multiple [[Barons]] a turn, or connect your [[Fool's Gold]]s: all things that are much easier to do when you have 10 cards to work with instead of just 5.
Tactician is generally used in one of two ways: Either you play Tactician at most every other turn,  sacrificing your ability to use [[Treasure]]s to buy cards on some turns in order to have other turns in which you can accomplish more with your deck; or you try to play one every turn, relying entirely on [[Action]]-based [[payload]]. These strategies are colloquially called Single Tactician and Double Tactician, respectively. Despite being the less obvious strategy, it is Double Tactician which reveals the real strength of the card: in [[Kingdom]]s with Tactician, you should think carefully at the start of the game about whether a Double Tactician strategy is viable.
#Exploiting cards whose power increases proportionally with handsize.  [[Coppersmith]] isn’t going to get many Coppers to work with in a 5-card hand, but fares much better in a 10-card hand.  Forge gets to trash a ton of cards at once, instead of one or two at a time.  [[Crossroads]] can draw a lot more cards even if your deck doesn’t have that many green cards in it.  [[Bank]] grows tremendously in power (and gets the +Buy it so desperately needs). [[Vault]]/[[Secret Chamber]] have more to discard. [[Cellar]] and [[Warehouse]] get a lot better when you have more choice.


These two considerations usually mean that the turn skipped by Tactician is worth it. As a bonus, Tactician is a nice counter to most attacks.  [[Ghost Ship]] and [[Militia]] are mostly nullified; [[Witch]] is still a must-buy, but her Curses are a lot easier to deal with when you’re working with 10 cards instead of 5.
Because playing Tactician is costly, you need a reason to build a Double Tactician deck. If [[draw]] is plentiful and reliable, and [[+Buy]] is easy to come by, skipping Tactician is likely to be the right choice. But if Tactician is the only source of +Buy or draw is unreliable, a Double Tactician deck is likely to be a strong option—if one can be built. A Double Tactician deck also typically needs Action-based sources of {{Cost}} (maybe {{Card|Conspirator}}) and a way to [[thin]] or [[sifting|sift]] through enough of your starting cards to allow you to reliably draw your Action payload and another Tactician. Note that Tactician is not generally a [[village (card category)|village]] in Double Tactician decks: you start each turn with two Actions, but you need to use one of those to play Tactician, so without another source of +Actions you can still only play one other [[terminal]] card.


Generally speaking, you won’t want more than one Tactician in your deck (perhaps a second one if your deck is very large). You don’t usually want to play a Tactician on your Tactician turn, because then you’re really going for Double Tactician (see below).  Occasionally, you see some “mega-turn” decks that repeatedly play Tactician until they can finally draw what they need: building for [[Throne Room]] x4 / [[Bridge]] x4 is a good example.
Tactician synergizes with a number of cards which reduce the downside of having to discard your hand. The strongest synergies are with cards that let you play Tactician after you play your Treasures, such as in the [[Combo:_Black_Market_and_Tactician|combo]] with {{Card|Black Market}}. {{Event|Toil}} functions similarly. Tactician also synergizes with {{Card|Vault}} and {{Card|Storeroom}}, which turn your excess hand size into {{Cost}}. Especially when using these cards, it is important to remember that Tactician needs to discard at least one card to activate its effect, so you should make sure to keep a card in hand for this purpose.


Tactician is worst when you have very strong trashing and/or deck draw.  If you can draw your whole deck, or almost all of it, every turn already, then there’s no point to skipping a turn to have a not-that-much-better second turn. Likewise, any card that depends on having something in your discard or deck does not fare well when your whole deck is in your hand: [[Philosopher's Stone]] loses $1 automatically, and [[Loan]], [[Venture]], [[Golem]], and [[Adventurer]] aren’t benefited by a large hand (and in fact are usually hurt).  (A side note on Golem: although it’s possible to use it to get multiple Tacticians in play, for up to +50 Cards/+10 Actions/+10 Buys the next turn, in practice Golem simply does not work with Tactician.)
Single Tactician tends to be viable in an entirely different type of Kingdom. The main use case is in a [[slog]], where it is hard to do much on a typical turn because your deck is filled with junk. Here, Tactician can help you to gain the occasional {{Card|Province}} so that you can score more {{VP}} than your opponent. Tactician can also help you to [[collision|line up]] cards that work together, such as {{Card|Tournament}} and {{Card|Province}}.


===[[Double Tactician]]===
Tactician can also be purchased for a specific short-term purpose: You might buy one early to spike {{Cost|7}} and purchase {{Event|Inheritance}} or to trigger {{Card|Magic Lamp}}, or you might purchase one later on with {{Project|Innovation}} to set up your next turn. Although it’s rarely viable, players can sometimes aim to play more than one Tactician per turn: For example, if you {{Card|Throne Room}} a Tactician in a hand with {{Card|Village Green}}, you can play the discarded {{Card|Village Green}} to draw another card, allowing your second Tactician play to take effect.


Playing a Tactician on your Tactician turn will ensure that you draw another ten cards next turn, but it means that you’re discarding all of your Treasure cards during the Action phase, before you can play them for money. [[Combo: Black Market and Tactician | Black Market]], of course is the giant, gaping loophole exception to this statement.  It technically counts as a Double Tactician engine, but is sufficiently different from most Double Tactician engines that I’ll just mention it here and move on.
===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.''
* [http://dominionstrategy.com/2012/04/10/seaside-tactician/ theory's 2012 article]


In your average deck, not being able to play Treasures is kind of a big deal. But [[Double Tactician]], almost by definition, gets around this by earning money from Actions rather than Treasure. The goal is to play a bunch of Actions for a lot of money, Tactician away the rest of your hand, buy a Province/Colony, and hope to be able to repeat this every turn for the rest of the game.
== Versions ==
===English versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Release !! Date
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage|o=1}} || {{CardVersionImage|TacticianDigitalOld|Tactician from Goko/Making Fun}} || Discard your hand.<br>If you discarded any cards this way, then at the start of your next turn, +5&nbsp;Cards, +1&nbsp;Buy, and +1&nbsp;Action. || Seaside || October 2009
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage|o=2}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|d=1}} || If you have at least one card in hand, discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, '''+5&nbsp;Cards''', '''+1&nbsp;Action''', and '''+1&nbsp;Buy'''. || Seaside [[Second Edition#Formatting_changes|(2017 printing)]] || July 2017
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage}} ||  || style="padding:15px 0px;"| If you have at least one card in hand: Discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, '''+5&nbsp;Cards''', '''+1&nbsp;Action''', and '''+1&nbsp;Buy'''. || <p>Seaside [http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=20551.0 (2020 printing)]</p><hr><p>Seaside (Second Edition)</p> ||
|}


Naturally, what kinds of Actions you can play is limited by the number of Actions you can play.  Tactician gives you an extra Action, but you still need an Action in the end to play the second Tactician.  So you have three options:
===Other language versions===
 
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible autocollapse" style="text-align:center;"
#Get tons of [[cantrip]] money, via [[Peddler]], [[Market]], [[Bazaar]], etc.  [[Conspirator]] needs a little help along the way but can be a cheap pseudo-[[Grand Market]].
! Language !! Name !! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Notes
#Get tons of terminal money but have enough Actions to play them all. This is most easily done with [[Fishing Village]], but can also be replicated with other [[Villages]] or [[King's Court]].  (Note that [[Bazaar]] qualifies for both this and cantrip money.) Merchant Ship is one of the best sources of terminal money since it persists to next turn.  Baron is quite nice, since it gives you +$4 per Action.
|-
#Get all the money you need from a single Action, via [[Vault]] or [[Secret Chamber]] (or Black Market/Tactician, as mentioned above).  Secret Chamber needs a little help: in a 10-card hand, the Secret Chamber has 9 cards to discard, but has to save at least two of them (the Tactician, and at least one card for the Tactician to discard), meaning it can only generate $7 at most.  Vault doesn’t need any help in a Province game, since it’ll draw up to 11 cards and be able to discard 9 of them for money.  Both will require some assistance in a Colony game.
!Chinese
Some things to keep in mind as you build this engine:
| 策士 (pron. ''cèshì'', lit. ''strategist'') || || || ||
 
|-
*It is absolutely critical for this engine to keep drawing that second Tactician. Without the consistent Tactician every turn, you can’t find all your Actions or that other Tactician, and it’ll cost you multiple turns for you to start the chain again. And as you start to green, the chance that you miss that second Tactician grows.
!Czech
**So a sifter like Warehouse or Cellar is a fantastic addition to the engine, and [[Scheme]] just eliminates the problem altogether. Otherwise, you need to be mindful that you’re building in such a way that can handle adding green cards to the deck (Crossroads is a great example, as is using Haggler to buy Province + engine part).
| Taktik || || || ||
*Like all engines, this takes a while to set up, and if you aren’t efficient, you might get outraced (especially since your opponent has access to Tactician).
|-
*It’s a waste to spend extra turns building up your money to a level you don’t need.  Ideally you will hit $8 or $11 exactly each turn; of course, more money is nice, but not if it costs you a turn in setting it up!
!Dutch
*Adding an attack or cards that give VP is almost a given, because you’ll able to play them every single turn. Goons, of course, will do both and give you +$2.
| Strateeg (lit. ''strategist'') || {{CardLangVersionImage|Dutch}} || || Heb je tenminste 1 kaart in je hand: leg je hand af en aan het begin van je volgende beurt: '''+5 Kaarten''', '''+1 Actie''' en '''+1 Aanschaf'''. || Hijs de Zeilen (2de Editie) 999 Games (2022)
*Some trashing often benefits this engine: it helps you set the engine up faster, and the key advantage of this deck is long-term consistency, one of the big weaknesses of a [[Chapel]]-thinned deck.
|-
*[[Outpost]] gives you even more opportunities: depending on the set, you might be able to have your Tactician trigger on your Outpost turn instead of your Tactician turn (thus allowing you to double-Tac without having to sacrifice your Treasures), or even go for the rare triple-Tac (where you get a Tactician benefit on your Outpost turns too).
!Finnish
*No matter what, don’t forget: always leave at least one card for the Tactician to discard!  It is always quite embarrassing to play Tactician with an empty hand and realize too late that there is no benefit to doing so…
| Taktikko || || || ||
 
|-
As with most engines, double-Tac can be beaten in very fast sets (e.g., [[Governor]], which can seriously slow you down by force-feeding you Silvers) and sets with Cursers, which will clog up your deck too much to reliably trigger the double-Tac.
!French
 
| Tacticien || || || Si vous avez au moins enu carte en main, défaussez votre main, et au dé do votre prochain tour, +5 Cartes, +1 Action, et +1 Achat. ||
=== Synergies/Combos ===
|-
*All cards that benefit from big hands: [[Warehouse]], [[Bank]], [[Crossroads]], [[Forge]], [[Coppersmith]], [[Vault]], etc.
!rowspan=3|German
*All cards that depend on hitting some other card: [[King's Court]], [[Fool's Gold]], [[Baron]], [[Tournament]], [[Treasure Map]], etc.
| Taktiker || {{CardLangVersionImage|German|o=1|German language Tactician 2009 by HiG}} || || Lege deine übrigen Handkarten ab.{{divline}}Wenn du auf diese Weise mindestens<br>eine Karte abgelegt hast:<br>Bei Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:<br>'''+5 Karten'''<br>'''+1 Aktion'''<br>'''+1 Kauf''' || (2009)<sup>†</sup>
*Mega-turn decks
|-
*[[Black Market]]
| Taktiker || {{CardVersionImage|TacticianGerman2018rulebook|German language Tactician 2018 by ASS}} || || Wenn du mindestens eine Karte auf deiner Hand hast, lege deine Handkarten ab und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:<br>'''+5 Karten''', '''+1&nbsp;Aktion''' und&nbsp;'''+1&nbsp;Kauf''' || (Nachdruck 2018)
*Double-Tactician requires Actions that produce +Coin and benefits from +VP cards
|-
*Opponents’ handsize attacks
| Taktiker || {{CardLangVersionImage|German|o=3|German language Tactician 2021 by ASS}} || {{CardVersionImage|TacticianGerman2022Digital|German language Tactician 2022 from Shuffle iT}} || Wenn du mindestens eine Karte auf deiner Hand hast: Lege deine Handkarten ab und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:<br>'''+5 Karten''', '''+1 Aktion''' und&nbsp;'''+1&nbsp;Kauf'''. || (Nachdruck 2021)
=== Antisynergies ===
|-
*Decks where you can easily draw the whole deck without Tactician’s help
!Italian
*[[Menagerie]]
| Stratega (lit. ''strategist'') || || || ||
*Diggers, or cards that depend on your deck/discard: [[Venture]], [[Golem]], [[Adventurer]], [[Philosopher's Stone]]
|-
*[[Possession]] (requires you to keep track of where your opponent’s Possession(s) are, and when it is “safe” to Tactician)
!Japanese
*Double-Tactician conflicts with Cursers
| 策士<br>(pron. ''sakushi'') || || || style="padding:15px 0px;"| 手札がある場合、すべて捨て札にして、あなたの次のターンの開始時に、'''+5 カードを引く'''、'''+1 アクション'''、'''+1 購入'''。 ||
 
|-
=== Games featuring Tactician ===
!Korean
*[http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201204/10/game-20120410-121305-2ac9b4e4.html Double Tactician barely beating single Tactician]
| 책략가 (pron. ''chaeglyagga'') || || || ||
*[http://dominion.isotropic.org/gamelog/201201/18/game-20120118-014142-1d9786b9.html Double Tactician with Spice Merchant and Vault]
|-
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwDPPVu-d5M YouTube video of jonts26 and tlloyd featuring Double Tactician]
!rowspan=2|Polish
| Strateg<br>(lit. ''strategist'') || {{CardLangVersionImage|Polish|o=1}} || || Odrzuć wszystkie karty z ręki.<br>Jeżeli odrzuciłeś w ten sposób chociaż jedną kartę, to na początku twojej następnej tury:<br>+5&nbsp;kart, +1&nbsp;zakup i +1&nbsp;akcja. || (2016)
|-
| Strateg<br>(lit. ''strategist'') || {{CardLangVersionImage|Polish}} || || Jeżeli masz na ręce przynajmniej jedną kartę: odrzuć wszystkie karty z ręki, a na początku twojej następnej tury:<br>'''+5&nbsp;kart''', '''+1&nbsp;akcja''' oraz '''+1&nbsp;zakup'''. || II&nbsp;Edycja<br>(2022)
|-
!Russian
| Тактик<br>(pron. ''taktik'') || || {{CardLangVersionImage|DigitalRussian}} || Если у вас есть хотя бы одна карта в руке, то сбросьте вашу руку, и в начале вашего следующего хода, '''+5&nbsp;Карт''', '''+1&nbsp;Действие''' и '''+1&nbsp;Покупка'''. ||
|-
!Spanish
| Estratega (lit. ''strategist'') || {{CardLangVersionImage|Spanish}} || || Descarta toda tu mano. Si descartas alguna carta, al comienzo de tu próximo turno:<br>'''+5 Cartas<br>+1 Compra<br>+1 Acción''' ||
|}
<sup>†</sup> ''The line separating start-of-turn abilities is unwarranted. This matters e.g. when you are [[Enchantress#Other_Rules_clarifications|Enchanted]] or you use a [[Way]]''.


== Trivia ==
== Trivia ==
=== Play Two Tacticians In One Turn ===
[[Image:TacticianArt.jpg|thumb|right|354px|Official card art.]]
Though the play of a Tactician requires you to discard your hand, it is technically possible to play two (or more!) Tacticians in one turn. This can be done through the play of a [[Golem]] and a (preferably non-terminal) draw card such as [[Menagerie]] or [[Laboratory]]. Players discovering the trick is a regular source of discussion on the forums. ([http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=334.0 1],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=1112.0 2],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=707.0 3],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=660.0 4],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=381.0 5],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=569.0 6])
Though the play of a Tactician requires you to discard your hand, it is technically possible to play multiple Tacticians in one turn by other means than [[Adventures tokens|+1 Card token]] with a [[Throne Room variant|Throne Room variant]]. This can be done through the play of a {{Card|Golem}} by drawing Tactician plus a non-terminal card such as {{Card|Menagerie}} or {{Card|Laboratory}}, or by using a [[Throne Room variant|Throne Room variant]] on a {{Card|Herald}} or {{Card|Vassal}} and revealing a Tactician followed by a drawing card (or, in the case of Herald, a second Tactician). Players, discovering this trick for the first time, generated many discussions on the forums ([http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=334.0 1],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=1112.0 2],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=707.0 3],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=660.0 4],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=381.0 5],[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=569.0 6]).
 
=== Secret History ===
=== Secret History ===
{{Quote
{{Quote
|Text=Once, this cost $3, and had no anti-Throne Room clause (the "if you discarded" part). In development it cost $4, and was singled out as one of the strongest cards. At $5 it still got plenty of play. The anti-Throne clause was added quite late. Tactician was looking strong but doable at that point, except for the Throne Room combo, which was ridiculous. It's sad to just nuke a combo like that, but that change didn't hurt the card much otherwise - okay, if you draw Tactican and four Festivals, you only play three of them - and this way we get to have the card at its best.
|Text=Once, this cost {{Cost|3}}, and had no anti-Throne Room clause (the "if you discarded" part). In development it cost {{Cost|4}}, and was singled out as one of the strongest cards. At {{Cost|5}} it still got plenty of play. The anti-Throne clause was added quite late. Tactician was looking strong but doable at that point, except for the Throne Room combo, which was ridiculous. It's sad to just nuke a combo like that, but that change didn't hurt the card much otherwise - okay, if you draw Tactican and four Festivals, you only play three of them - and this way we get to have the card at its best.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=117.0 from The Secret History of the Seaside Cards]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=117.0 The Secret History of the Seaside Cards]
}}
}}
=== Further comments from Donald X. ===
{{Quote
|Text=
I do not get to consider every hypothetical wording for an effect, and spent less time on considering wordings back then. The premise of Tactician was, discard your hand, but next turn is doubled. {{Card|Throne Room}} was too much. Checking to see if you discarded did the trick of making it not Throne-able, yes except when it is. I did not look further.


 
I am not sure "If this is the first time" is good there, as it looks like you can't possibly play two, so it makes people wonder, what are they missing. There might be a better wording though. I don't care about the {{Card|Golem}} / {{Event|Pathfinding}} stuff, it's rare enough.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=18412.msg752670#msg752670 Let's Discuss Nocturne Cards: Tragic Hero]
}}
{{Navbox Seaside}}
{{Navbox Cards}}
{{Navbox Cards}}
[[category:terminals]]
[[category:villages]]
[[category:duration draw]]
[[category:handsize negative]]
[[category:extra buys]]

Latest revision as of 10:39, 25 December 2023

Tactician
Info
Cost $5
Type(s) Action - Duration
Kingdom card? Yes
Set Seaside
Illustrator(s) Martin Hoffmann
Card text
If you have at least one card in hand: Discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards, +1 Action, and +1 Buy.

Tactician is an Action and Duration card from Seaside. Tactician allows you to discard your hand this turn in order to essentially double your next turn: you get five extra cards in addition to one extra buy and one extra action.

FAQ

Official FAQ

  • If you have no cards in hand, then Tactician does nothing more and is discarded in the same turn's Clean-up.
  • If you do have at least one card, you discard your hand, Tactician stays in play, and at the start of your next turn you get +5 Cards, +1 Buy, and +1 Action (and Tactician is discarded that turn).
  • If you use Throne Room on Tactician, you will discard your hand on the first play and will have no cards in hand for the second play (and so will not get the bonuses from it).

Other Rules clarifications

  • You can Throne Room a Tactician, but (under ordinary circumstances) you do not get any extra cards (as described above). Still the Throne Room (or its variants) stays in play.
  • Like all Duration cards, Tactician only stays in play during your Clean-up phase if it will do something in a future turn. So, if you play Tactician but do not discard any cards, it will have no effect on your next turn and should be discarded during the same turn's Clean-up phase.
  • When the +1 Card token is on Tactician, using a Throne Room variant on it becomes meaningful as it provides you a card to discard each time Tactician is played again.

Strategy

Tactician is generally used in one of two ways: Either you play Tactician at most every other turn, sacrificing your ability to use Treasures to buy cards on some turns in order to have other turns in which you can accomplish more with your deck; or you try to play one every turn, relying entirely on Action-based payload. These strategies are colloquially called Single Tactician and Double Tactician, respectively. Despite being the less obvious strategy, it is Double Tactician which reveals the real strength of the card: in Kingdoms with Tactician, you should think carefully at the start of the game about whether a Double Tactician strategy is viable.

Because playing Tactician is costly, you need a reason to build a Double Tactician deck. If draw is plentiful and reliable, and +Buy is easy to come by, skipping Tactician is likely to be the right choice. But if Tactician is the only source of +Buy or draw is unreliable, a Double Tactician deck is likely to be a strong option—if one can be built. A Double Tactician deck also typically needs Action-based sources of $ (maybe Conspirator) and a way to thin or sift through enough of your starting cards to allow you to reliably draw your Action payload and another Tactician. Note that Tactician is not generally a village in Double Tactician decks: you start each turn with two Actions, but you need to use one of those to play Tactician, so without another source of +Actions you can still only play one other terminal card.

Tactician synergizes with a number of cards which reduce the downside of having to discard your hand. The strongest synergies are with cards that let you play Tactician after you play your Treasures, such as in the combo with Black Market. Toil functions similarly. Tactician also synergizes with Vault and Storeroom, which turn your excess hand size into $. Especially when using these cards, it is important to remember that Tactician needs to discard at least one card to activate its effect, so you should make sure to keep a card in hand for this purpose.

Single Tactician tends to be viable in an entirely different type of Kingdom. The main use case is in a slog, where it is hard to do much on a typical turn because your deck is filled with junk. Here, Tactician can help you to gain the occasional Province so that you can score more  VP than your opponent. Tactician can also help you to line up cards that work together, such as Tournament and Province.

Tactician can also be purchased for a specific short-term purpose: You might buy one early to spike $7 and purchase Inheritance or to trigger Magic Lamp, or you might purchase one later on with Innovation to set up your next turn. Although it’s rarely viable, players can sometimes aim to play more than one Tactician per turn: For example, if you Throne Room a Tactician in a hand with Village Green, you can play the discarded Village Green to draw another card, allowing your second Tactician play to take effect.

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

Print Digital Text Release Date
Tactician Tactician from Goko/Making Fun Discard your hand.
If you discarded any cards this way, then at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards, +1 Buy, and +1 Action.		 Seaside October 2009
Tactician Tactician from Shuffle iT If you have at least one card in hand, discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards, +1 Action, and +1 Buy. Seaside (2017 printing) July 2017
Tactician If you have at least one card in hand: Discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards, +1 Action, and +1 Buy.

Seaside (2020 printing)

Seaside (Second Edition)

Other language versions

Language Name Print Digital Text Notes
Chinese 策士 (pron. cèshì, lit. strategist)
Czech Taktik
Dutch Strateeg (lit. strategist) Dutch language Tactician Heb je tenminste 1 kaart in je hand: leg je hand af en aan het begin van je volgende beurt: +5 Kaarten, +1 Actie en +1 Aanschaf. Hijs de Zeilen (2de Editie) 999 Games (2022)
Finnish Taktikko
French Tacticien Si vous avez au moins enu carte en main, défaussez votre main, et au dé do votre prochain tour, +5 Cartes, +1 Action, et +1 Achat.
German Taktiker German language Tactician 2009 by HiG Lege deine übrigen Handkarten ab.
Wenn du auf diese Weise mindestens
eine Karte abgelegt hast:
Bei Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:
+5 Karten
+1 Aktion
+1 Kauf		 (2009)†
Taktiker German language Tactician 2018 by ASS Wenn du mindestens eine Karte auf deiner Hand hast, lege deine Handkarten ab und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:
+5 Karten, +1 Aktion und +1 Kauf		 (Nachdruck 2018)
Taktiker German language Tactician 2021 by ASS German language Tactician 2022 from Shuffle iT Wenn du mindestens eine Karte auf deiner Hand hast: Lege deine Handkarten ab und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:
+5 Karten, +1 Aktion und +1 Kauf.		 (Nachdruck 2021)
Italian Stratega (lit. strategist)
Japanese 策士
(pron. sakushi)		 手札がある場合、すべて捨て札にして、あなたの次のターンの開始時に、+5 カードを引く、+1 アクション、+1 購入。
Korean 책략가 (pron. chaeglyagga)
Polish Strateg
(lit. strategist)		 Polish language Tactician Odrzuć wszystkie karty z ręki.
Jeżeli odrzuciłeś w ten sposób chociaż jedną kartę, to na początku twojej następnej tury:
+5 kart, +1 zakup i +1 akcja.		 (2016)
Strateg
(lit. strategist)		 Polish language Tactician Jeżeli masz na ręce przynajmniej jedną kartę: odrzuć wszystkie karty z ręki, a na początku twojej następnej tury:
+5 kart, +1 akcja oraz +1 zakup.		 II Edycja
(2022)
Russian Тактик
(pron. taktik)		 DigitalRussian language Tactician Если у вас есть хотя бы одна карта в руке, то сбросьте вашу руку, и в начале вашего следующего хода, +5 Карт, +1 Действие и +1 Покупка.
Spanish Estratega (lit. strategist) Spanish language Tactician Descarta toda tu mano. Si descartas alguna carta, al comienzo de tu próximo turno:
+5 Cartas
+1 Compra
+1 Acción

† The line separating start-of-turn abilities is unwarranted. This matters e.g. when you are Enchanted or you use a Way.

Trivia

Official card art.

Though the play of a Tactician requires you to discard your hand, it is technically possible to play multiple Tacticians in one turn by other means than +1 Card token with a Throne Room variant. This can be done through the play of a Golem by drawing Tactician plus a non-terminal card such as Menagerie or Laboratory, or by using a Throne Room variant on a Herald or Vassal and revealing a Tactician followed by a drawing card (or, in the case of Herald, a second Tactician). Players, discovering this trick for the first time, generated many discussions on the forums (1,2,3,4,5,6).

Secret History

Once, this cost $3, and had no anti-Throne Room clause (the "if you discarded" part). In development it cost $4, and was singled out as one of the strongest cards. At $5 it still got plenty of play. The anti-Throne clause was added quite late. Tactician was looking strong but doable at that point, except for the Throne Room combo, which was ridiculous. It's sad to just nuke a combo like that, but that change didn't hurt the card much otherwise - okay, if you draw Tactican and four Festivals, you only play three of them - and this way we get to have the card at its best.
—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Seaside Cards

Further comments from Donald X.

I do not get to consider every hypothetical wording for an effect, and spent less time on considering wordings back then. The premise of Tactician was, discard your hand, but next turn is doubled. Throne Room was too much. Checking to see if you discarded did the trick of making it not Throne-able, yes except when it is. I did not look further. I am not sure "If this is the first time" is good there, as it looks like you can't possibly play two, so it makes people wonder, what are they missing. There might be a better wording though. I don't care about the Golem / Pathfinding stuff, it's rare enough.
—Donald X. Vaccarino, Let's Discuss Nocturne Cards: Tragic Hero


v . t . e
Cards $2 Haven • Lighthouse • Native Village $3 Astrolabe • Fishing Village • Lookout • Monkey • Sea Chart • Smugglers • Warehouse $4 Blockade • Caravan • Cutpurse • Island • Sailor • Salvager • Tide Pools • Treasure Map $5 Bazaar • Corsair • Merchant Ship • Outpost • Pirate • Sea Witch • Tactician • Treasury • Wharf
Removed cards $2 Embargo • Pearl Diver $3 Ambassador $4 Navigator • Pirate Ship • Sea Hag $5 Explorer • Ghost Ship
Combos and Counters Black Market/Tactician • Native Village/Bridge
Other concepts Duration
v . t . e
Dominion Cards
Basic cards $0 Copper • Curse $2 Estate $3 Silver $5 Duchy $6 Gold $8 Province
Dominion $2 Cellar • Chapel • Moat $3 Harbinger • Merchant • Vassal • Village • Workshop $4 Bureaucrat • Gardens • Militia • Moneylender • Poacher • Remodel • Smithy • Throne Room $5 Bandit • Council Room • Festival • Laboratory • Library • Market • Mine • Sentry • Witch $6 Artisan
Removed cards: $3 Chancellor • Woodcutter $4 Feast • Spy • Thief $6 Adventurer
Intrigue $2 Courtyard • Lurker • Pawn $3 Masquerade • Shanty Town • Steward • Swindler • Wishing Well $4 Baron • Bridge • Conspirator • Diplomat • Ironworks • Mill • Mining Village • Secret Passage $5 Courtier • Duke • Minion • Patrol • Replace • Torturer • Trading Post • Upgrade $6 Farm • Nobles
Removed cards: $2 Secret Chamber $3 Great Hall $4 Coppersmith • Scout $5 Saboteur • Tribute $6 Harem
Seaside $2 Haven • Lighthouse • Native Village $3 Astrolabe • Fishing Village • Lookout • Monkey • Sea Chart • Smugglers • Warehouse $4 Blockade • Caravan • Cutpurse • Island • Sailor • Salvager • Tide Pools • Treasure Map $5 Bazaar • Corsair • Merchant Ship • Outpost • Pirate • Sea Witch • Tactician • Treasury • Wharf
Removed cards: $2 Embargo • Pearl Diver $3 Ambassador $4 Navigator • Pirate Ship • Sea Hag $5 Explorer • Ghost Ship
Alchemy P Transmute • Vineyard $2 Herbalist $2P Apothecary • Scrying Pool • University $3P Alchemist • Familiar • Philosopher's Stone $4 Potion $4P Golem $5 Apprentice $6P Possession
Prosperity $3 Anvil • Watchtower $4 Bishop • Clerk • Investment • Tiara • Monument • Quarry • Worker's Village $5 Charlatan • City • Collection • Crystal Ball • Magnate • Mint • Rabble • Vault • War Chest $6 Hoard $6* Grand Market $7 Bank • Expand • Forge • King's Court $8star Peddler $9 Platinum $11 Colony
Removed cards: $3 Loan • Trade Route $4 Talisman $5 Contraband • Counting House • Mountebank • Royal Seal • Venture $6 Goons
Cornucopia & Guilds $2 Candlestick Maker • Hamlet $2+ Farrier • Stonemason $3 Menagerie • Shop $3+ Infirmary $4 Advisor • Farmhands • Plaza • Remake • Young Witch $4+ Herald $5 Baker • Butcher • Carnival • Ferryman • Footpad • Horn of Plenty • Hunting Party • Jester • Journeyman • Joust (Rewards: Coronet • Courser • Demesne • Housecarl • Huge Turnip • Renown)• Merchant Guild • Soothsayer $6 Fairgrounds
Removed cards: $3 Fortune Teller $3+ Doctor • Masterpiece $4 Farming Village • Horse Traders • Taxman • Tournament (Prizes: Bag of Gold • Diadem • Followers • Princess • Trusty Steed) $5 Harvest
Hinterlands $2 Crossroads • Fool's Gold $3 Develop • Guard Dog • Oasis • Scheme • Tunnel $4 Jack of All Trades • Nomads • Spice Merchant • Trader • Trail • Weaver $5 Berserker • Cartographer • Cauldron • Haggler • Highway • Inn • Margrave • Souk • Stables • Wheelwright • Witch's Hut $6 Border Village • Farmland
Removed cards: $2 Duchess $3 Oracle $4 Noble Brigand • Nomad Camp • Silk Road $5 Cache • Embassy • Ill-Gotten Gains • Mandarin
Dark Ages $0 Ruins (Abandoned Mine • Ruined Library • Ruined Market • Ruined Village • Survivors) $0* Spoils $1 Poor House • Shelters (Hovel • Necropolis • Overgrown Estate) $2 Beggar • Squire • Vagrant $3 Forager • Hermit (Madman) • Market Square • Sage • Storeroom • Urchin (Mercenary) $4 Armory • Death Cart • Feodum • Fortress • Ironmonger • Marauder • Procession • Rats • Scavenger • Wandering Minstrel $5 Band of Misfits • Bandit Camp • Catacombs • Count • Counterfeit • Cultist • Graverobber • Junk Dealer • Knights (Dames Anna • Josephine • Molly • Natalie • Sylvia • Sirs Bailey • Destry • Martin • Michael • Vander) • Mystic • Pillage • Rebuild • Rogue $6 Altar • Hunting Grounds
Adventures $2 Coin of the Realm • Page (Treasure Hunter • Warrior • Hero • Champion) • Peasant (Soldier • Fugitive • Disciple • Teacher) • Ratcatcher • Raze $3 Amulet • Caravan Guard • Dungeon • Gear • Guide $4 Duplicate • Magpie • Messenger • Miser • Port • Ranger • Transmogrify $5 Artificer • Bridge Troll • Distant Lands • Giant • Haunted Woods • Lost City • Relic • Royal Carriage • Storyteller • Swamp Hag • Treasure Trove • Wine Merchant $6 Hireling
Events: $0 Alms • Borrow • Quest $1 Save $2 Scouting Party • Travelling Fair $3 Bonfire • Expedition • Ferry • Plan $4 Mission • Pilgrimage $5 Ball • Raid • Seaway • Trade $6 Lost Arts • Training $7 Inheritance $8 Pathfinding
Empires 4D Engineer 8D City Quarter • Overlord • Royal Blacksmith $2 Encampment/Plunder • Patrician/Emporium • Settlers/Bustling Village $3 Castles (Humble • Crumbling • Small • Haunted • Opulent • Sprawling • Grand • King's) • Catapult/Rocks • Chariot Race • Enchantress • Farmers' Market • Gladiator/Fortune $4 Sacrifice • Temple • Villa $5 Archive • Capital • Charm • Crown • Forum • Groundskeeper • Legionary • Wild Hunt
Events: 5D Triumph 8D Annex • Donate $0 Advance $2 Delve • Tax $3 Banquet $4 Ritual • Salt the Earth $43D Wedding $5 Windfall $6 Conquest $14 Dominate
Landmarks: Aqueduct • Arena • Bandit Fort • Basilica • Baths • Battlefield • Colonnade • Defiled Shrine • Fountain • Keep • Labyrinth • Mountain Pass • Museum • Obelisk • Orchard • Palace • Tomb • Tower • Triumphal Arch • Wall • Wolf Den
Nocturne $0* Will-o'-Wisp • Wish $2 Druid • Faithful Hound • Guardian • Monastery • Pixie (Goat) • Tracker (Pouch) $2* Imp $3 Changeling • Fool (Lost in the Woods • Lucky Coin) • Ghost Town • Leprechaun • Night Watchman • Secret Cave (Magic Lamp) $4 Bard • Blessed Village • Cemetery (Haunted Mirror) • Conclave • Devil's Workshop • Exorcist • Necromancer (Zombies: Apprentice • Mason • Spy) • Shepherd (Pasture) • Skulk $4* Ghost $5 Cobbler • Crypt • Cursed Village • Den of Sin • Idol • Pooka (Cursed Gold) • Sacred Grove • Tormentor • Tragic Hero • Vampire (Bat) • Werewolf $6 Raider
Boons: The Earth's Gift • Field • Flame • Forest • Moon • Mountain • River • Sea • Sky • Sun • Swamp • Wind
Hexes: Bad Omens • Delusion (Deluded) • Envy (Envious) • Famine • Fear • Greed • Haunting • Locusts • Misery (Miserable/Twice Miserable) • Plague • Poverty • War
Renaissance $2 Border Guard (Horn • Lantern) • Ducat • Lackeys $3 Acting Troupe • Cargo Ship • Experiment • Improve $4 Flag Bearer (Flag) • Hideout • Inventor • Mountain Village • Patron • Priest • Research • Silk Merchant $5 Old Witch • Recruiter • Scepter • Scholar • Sculptor • Seer • Spices • Swashbuckler (Treasure Chest) • Treasurer (Key) • Villain
Projects: $3 Cathedral • City Gate • Pageant • Sewers • Star Chart $4 Exploration • Fair • Silos • Sinister Plot $5 Academy • Capitalism • Fleet • Guildhall • Piazza • Road Network $6 Barracks • Crop Rotation • Innovation $7 Canal $8 Citadel
Menagerie $2 Black Cat • Sleigh • Supplies $3 Camel Train • Goatherd • Scrap • Sheepdog • Snowy Village • Stockpile $3* Horse $4 Bounty Hunter • Cardinal • Cavalry • Groom • Hostelry • Village Green $5 Barge • Coven • Displace • Falconer • Gatekeeper • Hunting Lodge • Kiln • Livery • Mastermind • Paddock • Sanctuary $5* Fisherman $6* Destrier • Wayfarer $7* Animal Fair
Events: $0 Delay • Desperation $2 Gamble • Pursue • Ride • Toil $3 Enhance • March • Transport $4 Banish • Bargain • Invest • Seize the Day $5 Commerce • Demand • Stampede $7 Reap $8 Enclave $10 Alliance • Populate
Ways: Butterfly • Camel • Chameleon • Frog • Goat • Horse • Mole • Monkey • Mouse • Mule • Otter • Owl • Ox • Pig • Rat • Seal • Sheep • Squirrel • Turtle • Worm
Allies $2 Bauble • Sycophant • Townsfolk (Town Crier / Blacksmith / Miller / Elder) $3 Augurs (Herb Gatherer / Acolyte / Sorceress / Sibyl) • Clashes (Battle Plan / Archer / Warlord / Territory) • Forts (Tent / Garrison / Hill Fort / Stronghold) • Importer • Merchant Camp • Odysseys (Old Map / Voyage / Sunken Treasure / Distant Shore) • Sentinel • Underling • Wizards (Student / Conjurer / Sorcerer / Lich) $4 Broker • Carpenter • Courier • Innkeeper • Royal Galley • Town $5 Barbarian • Capital City • Contract • Emissary • Galleria • Guildmaster • Highwayman • Hunter • Modify • Skirmisher • Specialist • Swap $6 Marquis
Allies: Architects' Guild • Band of Nomads • Cave Dwellers • Circle of Witches • City-state • Coastal Haven • Crafters' Guild • Desert Guides • Family of Inventors • Fellowship of Scribes • Forest Dwellers • Gang of Pickpockets • Island Folk • League of Bankers • League of Shopkeepers • Market Towns • Mountain Folk • Order of Astrologers • Order of Masons • Peaceful Cult • Plateau Shepherds • Trappers' Lodge • Woodworkers' Guild
Plunder $2 Cage • Grotto • Jewelled Egg • Search • Shaman $3 Secluded Shrine • Siren • Stowaway • Taskmaster $4 Abundance • Cabin Boy • Crucible • Flagship • Fortune Hunter • Gondola • Harbor Village • Landing Party • Mapmaker • Maroon • Rope • Swamp Shacks • Tools $5 Buried Treasure • Crew • Cutthroat • Enlarge • Figurine • First Mate • Frigate • Longship • Mining Road • Pendant • Pickaxe • Pilgrim • Quartermaster • Silver Mine • Trickster • Wealthy Village $6 Sack of Loot $7 King's Cache $7* Loots (Amphora • Doubloons • Endless Chalice • Figurehead • Hammer • Insignia • Jewels • Orb • Prize Goat • Puzzle Box • Sextant • Shield • Spell Scroll • Staff • Sword)
Events: $1 Bury $2 Avoid • Deliver • Peril • Rush $3 Foray • Launch • Mirror • Prepare • Scrounge $4 Maelstrom • Journey $6 Looting $10 Invasion • Prosper
Traits: Cheap • Cursed • Fated • Fawning • Friendly • Hasty • Inherited • Inspiring • Nearby • Patient • Pious • Reckless • Rich • Shy • Tireless
Rising Sun 5D Mountain Shrine 6D Daimyo 8D Artist $2 Fishmonger • Snake Witch $3 Aristocrat • Craftsman • Riverboat • Root Cellar $4 Alley • Change • Ninja • Poet • River Shrine • Rustic Village $5 Gold Mine • Imperial Envoy • Kitsune • Litter • Rice Broker • Ronin • Tanuki • Tea House $6 Samurai $7 Rice
Events: 8D Continue $2 Amass • Asceticism • Credit • Foresight $3 Kintsugi • Practice $4 Sea Trade $5 Receive Tribute $7 Gather
Prophecies: Approaching Army • Biding Time • Bureaucracy • Divine Wind • Enlightenment • Flourishing Trade • Good Harvest • Great Leader • Growth • Harsh Winter • Kind Emperor • Panic • Progress • Rapid Expansion • Sickness
Promo $3 Black Market • Church $4 Dismantle • Envoy • Sauna/Avanto • Walled Village $5 Governor • Marchland • Stash $6 Captain $8 Prince
Events: $5 Summon
Base Cards $0 Copper • Curse $2 Estate $3 Silver $4 Potion $5 Duchy $6 Gold $8 Province $9 Platinum $11 Colony
See also: Second Edition • Errata • Outtakes (Confusion) • Fan cards • Card storage • List of cards (in other languages)
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