Captain

Captain
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Duration - Command
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Promo
Illustrator(s)	Julien Delval
Card text
Now and at the start of your next turn: Play a non-Duration, non-Command Action card from the Supply costing up to , leaving it there.

Captain is a promotional Action-Duration-Command card. It lets you play two Actions from the Supply: one now and one next turn.

FAQ

Official FAQ

There is no official FAQ for Captain.

Other Rules clarifications

• You choose a non-Duration, non-Command Action card from the Supply that costs up to and play it, leaving it there, then choose again at the start of your next turn.
• On the second turn, you can choose to play a different card, or the same card if there is still a copy of it in the Supply.
• Captain can only play a visible card in the Supply, and the top card of a pile; it cannot play a card from an empty pile, or a card that has not been uncovered from a split pile, or a card from a split pile that has been bought out, or a non-Supply card (such as Mercenary).
• The Action card stays in the Supply; if an effect tries to move it (such as Island putting itself on your Island Mat) it will fail to move it.
• Captain can play a card that trashes itself when played; if the card checks to see if it was trashed (such as Mining Village), it was not, but if the card does not check (such as Acting Troupe), it will function normally.
• Cards that normally move other cards from the Supply can move themselves when played via Captain; for example playing Workshop can gain itself, and playing Lurker can trash itself.
• If there are no non-Duration, non-Command Action cards in the Supply that cost up to the turn you play Captain, Captain still stays in play and tries to play a card at the start of your next turn.
• While Captain can't directly play Duration cards, it can still stay in play for longer than usual if, on the second turn, it plays a Throne Room that then plays a Caravan.

Strategy

Captain is a Duration Command card that plays an Action card directly from the Supply, once immediately and again at the start of your following turn. Captain is generally a very powerful card, although the exact power level is dependent on the strength of the Action cards the Kingdom offers in the relevant price range. This is because Captain can be especially valuable to increase consistency in an engine by providing start-of-turn draw and/or to supply a village effect, and as a Command card gives you the flexibility to play draw, village, or payload effects precisely when needed.

Captain increases your terminal space by providing an extra opportunity to play a card at the start of your next turn without using up an Action. If you use this start-of-turn play on a cantrip, for example, you also now have two Actions available when you begin playing cards from your hand. This can be especially useful if there are no other villages available; aiming to consistently play at least one pair of alternating Captains every other turn is often a good choice in this scenario. Playing a terminal draw card (e.g. Envoy) is another common option, preferable if villages are easy to come by. When relying on specific Actions in the Supply, it is crucial to anticipate whether any of the relevant piles will be likely to run out, since you will potentially be deprived of important engine pieces if your Captains cannot play them, and may even end up unable to play all of your Captains (e.g. if only terminal Action cards remain). For the same reason, it’s occasionally worth it to empty a low pile in the end-game for the sole purpose of denying the option to your opponents as a Captain play.

A good selection of useful options at or below increases Captain’s utility in a Kingdom. Beyond non-terminals, which are especially useful for the beginning-of-turn play, payload cards may be relevant on the turn you play Captain initially—Captain gives you the flexibility to play terminal stop cards such as Monument and Remodel when it’s most convenient, while consuming less terminal space and with far less of the associated risk of dudding. As with other Command cards, certain cards have synergy with Captain because they provide their full benefit when played from the Supply but have their usual drawback negated: this includes one-shot effects that are either unconditional (e.g. Acting Troupe) or effectively unconditional when the card must remain in the Supply (e.g. Experiment). Similarly, when Way of the Horse is in the Kingdom, any Action card can effectively be played by Captain for a Laboratory effect, which is very powerful. Another important synergy is with cost reduction, which increases the number of cards available for Captain to play; Canal, Ferry, and Bridge Troll are particularly notable because they can also reduce costs at the beginning of your turn.

Although Captain is expensive you can typically afford it by the early midgame, at which point the reliability it offers can be greatly beneficial, while a pair of Captains can ensure your deck is very stable. If there’s a card you would like to play a lot of, it's typically better to get an additional copy of Captain rather than the target card. Thus, in Kingdoms with strong Captain targets, it’s usually wise to get many Captains.

Captain’s value may be reduced in a particular Kingdom if important cards in the right price range are either unplayable by Captain (due to being Durations, e.g. Fishing Village) or otherwise do not provide their full benefit:

• Conditional one-shot effects that require you to trash or otherwise move the card (like Pixie or Treasure Map) may be weak or useless as Captain targets.
• Cards with strong on-gain effects (e.g. Lackeys) may still be useful Captain targets, but you’d likely prefer to add them to your deck instead.
• Travellers played by Captain cannot be exchanged for their later stages.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		Now and at the start of your next turn: Play a non-Duration Action card from the Supply costing up to , leaving it there.	Captain	Summer 2019
		Now and at the start of your next turn: Play a non-Duration, non-Command Action card from the Supply costing up to , leaving it there.	Dominion 2019 Errata and Rules Tweaks Errata	October 10, 2019

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
German	Kapitän Tobias (lit. Captain Tobias)			Jetzt und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges: Spiele eine Aktionskarte im Vorrat, die keine Dauerkarte ist und bis zu kostet und lasse sie dort liegen.	(2019)
	Kapitän Tobias (lit. Captain Tobias)			Jetzt und zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges: Spiele eine Aktionskarte im Vorrat, die keine Dauer- oder Befehlskarte ist und bis zu kostet und lasse sie dort liegen.	(2020)
Japanese	船長 (pron. senchō)
Polish	Kapitan			Teraz i na początku twojej następnej tury: zagraj z Zasobów (i pozostaw ją tam) kartę Akcji kosztującą do , niebędącą kartą Następstwa ani Rozkazu.	(2022)

Trivia

Official card art.

This card was designed together with Church on request by ASS to commemorate the victors of the "Jubiläumsmeisterschaft" (jubilee championship), organized 2018 in Germany and Austria to celebrate ten years of Dominion. The man shown in the art is RTT, winner of the German championship in 2018. His real name is Tobias, which is referenced in the German name of the card.

Before the 2019 errata, you could enter an infinite loop with Captain, Band of Misfits, Ferry, and cost reduction: With your – cost token on the Captain Supply pile, Band of Misfits can be played as Captain, and with cost reduction, Captain can play Band of Misfits. This let you play Captain as many times as you want, and play that many cards at the start of your next turn.

Secret History

Altenburger wanted another promo, for the player winning the big tournament. They forgot about this later, or misunderstood, but we'd already said we were doing it, so we still did it. Since Church was a more normal card, this one tried to be more exotic. We tried a bunch of things. One card that stood out as fun was Big Feast, which was trashed to gain two cheaper cards ('s) and play them. It had issues, like being crazy and running out piles like mad. I replaced it with Two Bands, which was a one-shot two plays of Band of Misfits. It was fun too, but had (easier) infinite loops, which I briefly addressed (but did not remove) by having it gain a Silver too. That made it clunkier and uh less a thing of joy. The next version switched to being Band of Misfits on two different turns, and hooray, that's how it ended up. The final version has an infinite loop due to saying "up to " instead of e.g. the odious "costing no more than less than" (you put Ferry on it and play e.g. a Bridge, and then it can play Band of Misfits and Band of Misfits can play it). That still may get fixed via errata to Band of Misfits when next we reprint Dark Ages, as part of my purge of shapeshifting problems (with Band of Misfits, Overlord, and Inheritance). The German version will be Kapitän Tobias, after the winner of the tournament, and the art depicts him. He is around on the discord and forums as RTT.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dominion Promos