Donate: Difference between revisions
Wikiwikiwiki (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
|||
Line 62: | Line 62: | ||
* Skipping Donate entirely: It is very rare to fully skip Donate, as it’s often just a faster way of getting to an ideal deck than the alternatives. Kingdoms with {{Card|Pixie}} and therefore {{Card|Goat}} are possible exceptions, as the {{Card|Goat}} can thin decks fairly quickly without needing to take on {{Debt|8}}. | * Skipping Donate entirely: It is very rare to fully skip Donate, as it’s often just a faster way of getting to an ideal deck than the alternatives. Kingdoms with {{Card|Pixie}} and therefore {{Card|Goat}} are possible exceptions, as the {{Card|Goat}} can thin decks fairly quickly without needing to take on {{Debt|8}}. | ||
Donate works well with cards that can take advantage of the otherwise unproductive turns that you spend paying off the Debt. [[Gainer]]s that you can open with (e.g. {{Card|Groom}}) are the most common examples of such. [[Attack]]s are also possible candidates, with handsize attacks such as {{Card|Militia}} significantly hurting your opponents, who likely have very good 5-card hands and no draw at this stage of the game. | Donate works well with cards that can take advantage of the otherwise unproductive turns that you spend paying off the Debt. [[Gainer]]s that you can open with (e.g. {{Card|Groom}}) are the most common examples of such. [[Attack]]s are also possible candidates, with handsize attacks such as {{Card|Militia}} significantly hurting your opponents, who likely have very good 5-card hands and no draw at this stage of the game. {{Card|Travellers}} are also good options for this, as you can start advancing them quickly up the line. | ||
When you bought {{Project|Fleet}}, Donate can change your deck's final contents if you buy it at the end of the final game turn. It can be used to [[greening|score]] in Kingdoms with [[Landmark]]s such as {{Landmark|Wolf Den}}, {{Landmark|Wall}}, {{Landmark|Bandit Fort}}, and {{Landmark|Tomb}}. | When you bought {{Project|Fleet}}, Donate can change your deck's final contents if you buy it at the end of the final game turn. It can be used to [[greening|score]] in Kingdoms with [[Landmark]]s such as {{Landmark|Wolf Den}}, {{Landmark|Wall}}, {{Landmark|Bandit Fort}}, and {{Landmark|Tomb}}. |
Revision as of 20:13, 10 September 2024
Donate | |
---|---|
Info | |
Cost | |
Type | Event |
Set | Empires |
Illustrator(s) | Martin Hoffmann |
Event text | |
At the start of your next turn, first, put your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number of cards from it, then shuffle the rest into your deck and draw 5 cards. |
Donate is an Event from Empires. It is a trasher with a Debt cost. It is perhaps the strongest trasher in the game, able to trash any number of cards from the buyer's entire deck.
Donate was revised in 2022 to change its timing: Donate's effect originally took place between turns, but now it happens as the first thing at the start of your next turn.
FAQ
Unofficial FAQ (2022)
- Donate happens before anything else that happens at the start of your turn, such as taking a card from Archive.
- Effects that happen due to trashing cards (such as Rocks') will happen before you shuffle.
Other rules clarifications
- The start of your turn is during your Action phase.
- If trashing cards draws you cards that were somehow not already in your hand, it is too late to trash those, and you will shuffle them into your deck.
- Anything that cares about shuffling (such as Star Chart) happens when you shuffle your hand into your deck.
- You only shuffle your hand into your deck; any cards that get into your discard pile (such as with Order of Masons or when reacting with Market Square) stay there.
- You draw 5 cards no matter how many you had in hand before Donate.
- Donate doesn't happen if the game ends first.
- If you use Possession to control a turn where Donate happens, you choose what they trash, and those cards are set aside until after they draw their next hand.
Deprecated official FAQ (2016) |
|
Deprecated rules clarifications (2016 2021) |
|
Strategy
Donate is a centralizing Event that rewards calculation and careful planning by offering massive acceleration towards clean decks very early, with relatively little room for shuffle luck to matter. Donate's strength arises from the fact that it's the fastest trasher in almost any Kingdom and often makes it very easy to build a strong deck from a very clean starting position. Donate’s cost is high, but because it is Debt it can be paid off over multiple turns.
In Kingdoms with Donate it’s often possible to plan out the first 4 or 5 turns precisely. The main question is usually on which turn to buy it, and the answer is often dependent on your opening split and what the Kingdom offers. Generally speaking, Donate lessens the need for early trashers, draw, and other forms of deck control, and allows you to essentially start building a deck with payload cards (especially gainers) first. Some common patterns are as follows:
- Turn 1 Donate: This is a less common option because it usually involves keeping 5 Coppers, but it can be a viable strategy to Donate on turn 1 to a deck of 5 Coppers, pay off the debt on turn 2, buy an important card such as Treasurer on turn 3, and hope it doesn’t bottomdeck on turn 4.
- Turn 2 Donate: One of the more common options. Usually bought in order to benefit from having one opening buy in deck, and to avoid having to rely on drawing a good turn 3 hand. An example of this is opening with Silver/Donate on a / opening split, then Donating down to 3 Coppers and the Silver in order to buy a Haggler on turn 4. Another example on a / opening split is opening with Ironworks on turn 1, Donating on turn 2 to the Ironworks and 3 Coppers, gaining a Silver with the Ironworks and paying off Debt on turn 3, then gaining another Silver and buying a on turn 4.
- Turn 3 or Turn 4 Donate: Also among the more common options. Usually taken in order to benefit from having two opening buys in deck, but is more dependent on shuffle luck than Donating earlier. Depending on which cards you draw on turn 3, you can decide whether to wait until turn 4 to Donate. If, for example, you open with Inventor and Stockpile with the goal of buying and gaining multiple Stockpiles and also buying Donate on turn 3, but instead draw 2 Coppers and 3 Estates, you’ll likely prefer to wait until turn 4 to Donate, leaving you a turn or more behind an opponent who adopts a similar strategy but gets luckier draws.
- Donating later: It is very rare to Donate for the first time later than turn 4, as this would mean wasting time drawing through your bad starting cards. It is not that rare, however, to Donate a second time later in the game to clean up either leftover Coppers or junk from junking attacks.
- Skipping Donate entirely: It is very rare to fully skip Donate, as it’s often just a faster way of getting to an ideal deck than the alternatives. Kingdoms with Pixie and therefore Goat are possible exceptions, as the Goat can thin decks fairly quickly without needing to take on .
Donate works well with cards that can take advantage of the otherwise unproductive turns that you spend paying off the Debt. Gainers that you can open with (e.g. Groom) are the most common examples of such. Attacks are also possible candidates, with handsize attacks such as Militia significantly hurting your opponents, who likely have very good 5-card hands and no draw at this stage of the game. Travellers are also good options for this, as you can start advancing them quickly up the line.
When you bought Fleet, Donate can change your deck's final contents if you buy it at the end of the final game turn. It can be used to score in Kingdoms with Landmarks such as Wolf Den, Wall, Bandit Fort, and Tomb.
A fairly rare tactical use for Donate is using it to skip bad shuffles (e.g., one with all terminal draw and no villages), as Donate is an expensive way to guarantee you shuffle almost your whole deck.
Notable synergies
- Market Square - Combo: Donate and Market Square
- Feodum can be opened alongside Donate for an early economy boost.
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
Digital | Text | Release | Date | |
---|---|---|---|---|
After this turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 5 cards. | Empires | June 2016 | ||
At end of turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, shuffle your hand into your deck, then draw 5 cards. | Avoid having when-trashed/when-gained triggers between turns Empires (2021 printing) |
January 29, 2021 / February 18, 2022
| ||
Right before drawing your next hand, put your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number of cards from it, then shuffle your hand into your deck. | Avoid overriding Outpost's timing | June 29, 2022 | ||
At the start of your next turn, first, put your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number of cards from it, then shuffle the rest into your deck and draw 5 cards. | Between turns erratum with fewer changes than necessary | July 14, 2022 |
Other language versions
Trivia
Secret History
Is Donate too strong?
Donate is powerful. It doesn’t slow the game down, isn’t too random, does not eliminate too many decisions. It does eclipse other trashers but that’s not so bad. Maybe you want to ask, is it the most powerful thing? That won’t be very interesting and even there you can discuss what that means.
Donate is probably the least-skippable thing; by that metric it’s the most “busted.” I don’t think it makes the game worse though, and other things do, so they are the “busted” cards to me.
What’s really interesting in the games is trying to work out how to build up perfectly and it’s different every time, you know. Donate’s reduction of luck in turn reduces the use of general advice. Though, some people will still for sure want to know, oh, do not wait forever to Donate.Development comments
Trash a card from your hand. If the trash didn't have a copy of it, +2 .
Donation: Event,
You may trash a card from your hand costing .
or more. Then if there's exactly one copy of it in the trash, +3Donation: Event,
After you discard cards from play this turn, put all cards from your deck and discard pile into your hand, trash any number, and shuffle the rest into your deck.Retrospective
2022 Errata on errata
Tracking
My mission was to preserve the original Donate as well as possible while having a wording that worked. That's how it got that wording. It tends to be very memorable; no worries about forgetting it so far.
In general it is not great to have an Event that does something on a future turn, unless something specifically provides tracking. Summon affects your next turn, and the card you set aside provides the tracking there.