Elder

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Elder
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Townsfolk
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Allies
Illustrator(s)	Julien Delval
Card text
+ You may play an Action card from your hand. When it gives you a choice of abilities (with “choose”) this turn, you may choose an extra (different) option.

Elder is an Action-Townsfolk card from Allies. It increases the number of choices you are able to make when a card prompts you to "choose" something.

It is part of a split pile that it shares with the other Townsfolk, Town Crier, Blacksmith, and Miller. Both Town Crier and Blacksmith let you choose from multiple options which means there will always be targets for Elder's ability in the Kingdom with it.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• You can play an Action card with no "choose" ability; it will simply do what it normally does.
• If you play one with a "choose" ability, you may take an extra choice, but don't have to; for example, when playing Count (from Dark Ages), you could choose to only get one thing from the first "choose" ability, but two from the second.
• If you choose multiple things, you do those things in the order listed on the card; for example, if you use Elder on Blacksmith and choose "draw until you have 6 cards in hand" and "+1 Card and +1 Action," you first draw up to 6, then get +1 Card and +1 Action.
• If you use Elder on Courtier (from Intrigue), you get one extra choice, not one extra choice per type.
• Elder doesn't affect all choices, just ones that say "choose" and have a list of options; for example Workshop gives you a choice of what card to gain, but Elder playing Workshop doesn't do anything extra.

Other rules clarifications

• Some cards may appear like they're giving you a choice (e.g. Weaver, Barge, and Jester), but because they don't say "choose", they aren't affected by Elder.
• If you use Elder on Scrap and trash a card costing , you get one choice. But if you use Elder on Scrap and trash nothing (because you have no cards in hand), you get no choices. [1]
• Elder does not make Catacombs more useful: If you choose both options, you put the 3 cards into your hand, discard them (from your hand), and draw 3 different cards.
• Normally, Elder will have no effect on Duration cards that give you a choice next turn. For example, if you use Elder on Amulet, you get an additional choice this turn, but you won't get an additional choice on the following turn. And if you use Elder on Cabin Boy, nothing special happens. Elder won't stay in play with the Duration.
  • However, if you play an Elder at the start of your turn (e.g. with Contract) and have it play a Quartermaster), you can choose both its options this turn (but not on future turns).
• If you use Elder on Stronghold, you can get both + now and +3 Cards next turn. Elder won't stay in play with the Stronghold.
• If you use Elder on an Action that gives choices, and then you replay that Action (e.g. with Royal Carriage or Scepter), you won't get an additional choice on the second play. [2]
• If Elder plays a card with choices, and that card was played using Way of the Chameleon, you both get an extra choice from that card, and switch +Cards / +. [3]
• If you use Elder on a Reckless card that gives choices, you can get an extra choice during both iterations. [4]
• Even though the word "choose" is used, Elder has no effect on cards such as Advisor, Necromancer, Pillage, Swindler, or a second Elder.

Cards that gain extra effects from Elder

Cards in italics have been removed.

• Intrigue: Courtier, Lurker, Minion, Nobles, Pawn, Steward
• Seaside: Native Village, Pirate Ship
• Cornucopia & Guilds: Courser, Trusty Steed
• Hinterlands: Spice Merchant
• Dark Ages: Catacombs (although combining both effects gives no actual benefit), Count, Graverobber, Squire
• Adventures: Amulet (two effects only when playing, not on the next turn), Miser
• Empires: Wild Hunt
• Renaissance: Treasurer
• Menagerie: Scrap
• Allies: Blacksmith, Broker, Hill Fort, Innkeeper, Modify, Specialist, Stronghold, Town, Town Crier
• Plunder: Quartermaster (only if played at start of turn)
• Rising Sun: Kitsune
• Promo: Governor

If Enlightenment is active and you play Elder in your Buy phase (with e.g. Market Towns), you can play these Treasures to get extra choices: Bauble, Charm, Investment, Orb, Scepter

Strategy

Elder is a situational card that can be compared to a Throne Room. While Throne Room can work on a much larger number of action cards and can also allow cards that 'choose one' to pick the same option twice, Elder also provides + and offers a notable advantage when used on action cards that target other cards in your hand, as you don't need multiples of those other cards. For example when using Elder on Broker or Modify you only have to trash one expensive card to get multiple benefits. A particularly noteworthy combination is with Specialist. By using Elder on a Specialist, it can both play another card twice while also gaining another copy of that card. This is particularly effective with powerful and expensive cards like Highway, Grand Market, or Laboratory that you often want a lot of in your deck, enabling a player to quickly snowball with lots of Grand Markets if good deck control is established. Using an Eldered Specialist on Skirmisher is another interesting combination. As the gain happens after executing Skirmisher and you will gain another Skirmisher, Skirmisher will also automatically trigger its attack when played in this way (as well as doubling its Peddler effect). If such cards are not available in the kingdom Elder can often be overlooked.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+ You may play an Action card from your hand. When it gives you a choice of abilities (e.g. “choose one”) this turn, you may choose an extra (different) option.	Allies	March 2022
		+ You may play an Action card from your hand. When it gives you a choice of abilities (with “choose”) this turn, you may choose an extra (different) option.	Slight rewording for clarity

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Dutch	Ouderling			+ Je mag een actiekaart uit je hand spelen. Geeft deze je deze beurt een keuze uit opties (bijvoorbeeld “kies 1”), dan mag je een extra (verschillende) optie kiezen.
German	Älteste			+ Du darfst eine Aktionskarte aus deiner Hand spielen. Wenn sie dich in diesem Zug aus verschiedenen Anweisungen wählen lässt (z. B. „wähle eins“), darfst du eine zusätzliche, ungenutzte Option davon wählen.

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Elder ties the pile together, giving you an extra choice when choose-one-ing (or choose-two-ing). It's optional; you can Elder a Count and take an extra good thing but not an extra bad thing. If I made a card like Elder as a regular pile, game after game there'd be no choose-one on the same board. But it's in a split pile so there are always at least two, Town Crier and Blacksmith. And then Miller can help you line up the combo.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Allies Preview 3: Choose One

Secret History

Elder initially gave +1 Action and affected the rest of the turn; this was too much.

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

Further comments from Donald X.

Maybe it's better not to do really cool cards like Elder. I dunno, it always seems worth it to me. I don't think anything needs errata due to Elder. I mean, zero cards. For sure having the game in many languages means any reference to text on a card can run into trouble.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2022

I needed to have a clear answer to what Elder worked with, and care more about that than about any particular combo. Otherwise sure it would be nice to get those combos [with Barge and Village Green] too.

I think if normal players think Elder works with Barge, that will be fine, Elder will work with their Barges. I am always having to deal with, what will fit on the card, is this too much to ask of players so this fun thing doesn't get to exist, etc.

Sir Martin hated Patron, tried to kill it, endlessly badmouthed it, in a way that would never get someone hired, lemme tell you. But it's not a paying job and he kept doing it. And I didn't kill Patron and I mean no regrets, people in fact liked it.

We haven't done that test with Elder yet. Good luck, Elder!

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Dominion Discord, 2022