Tribute

Tribute
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Intrigue
Illustrator(s)	Matthias Catrein
Card text
The player to your left reveals then discards the top 2 cards of their deck. For each differently named card revealed, if it is an… Action Card, +2 Actions Treasure Card, + Victory Card, +2 Cards

Tribute is an Action card from the first edition of Intrigue. It gives you a variable bonus depending on the top two cards of an opponent's deck. Tribute is a difficult card to use because of its unpredictability.

It was removed from the second edition of Intrigue.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• If the player after you has fewer than 2 cards left in his deck, he reveals all the cards in his deck, shuffles his discard pile (which does not include currently revealed cards), and then reveals the remainder needed. The player then discards the revealed cards.
• If the player after you does not have enough cards to reveal 2, he reveals what he can.
• You get bonuses for the types of cards revealed, counting only the different cards.
• A card with 2 types gives you both bonuses.
• So if the player to your left reveals Copper and Harem, you get + and +2 cards; if he reveals 2 Silvers, you just get +.
• Curse produces no bonus.

Strategy

Before it was removed, Tribute was occasionally usable as an expensive and unreliable village. Its unpredictability makes it most likely to be worthwhile in Kingdoms that encourage high Action density and have strong terminal Action payload, but where villages are otherwise unavailable. Because it relies on your opponent’s deck composition, it can only be used in this way if they are also building an Action-rich deck. For example, against a money strategy or deck with many Coppers, it is fairly likely to act as a terminal silver that gives your opponent free cycling—an extremely weak effect for a card. Even in favorable matchups, however, bad luck may still lead to Tribute being terminal, resulting in an inability to play all your payload. For this reason, any other available village is likely to be preferable, even though a lucky Tribute can provide as much benefit as a Lost City.

Thus, Tribute tends to be playable primarily in Kingdoms where an engine built around non-terminal draw is available and well-supported with strong thinning and terminal payload (such as Replace or Merchant Guild). Because such an engine is strong enough to beat money strategies even with a single terminal, both players are liable to build in this way. This makes Tribute likely to be a village in the midgame, which allows you to gain it at that point in order to play additional terminal payload cards.

Even with all this support, it is still likely that skipping Tribute is the stronger alternative, as it is expensive and thus has a high opportunity cost. Unless there is very strong terminal payload, especially payload that increases in value when played in multiples like Bridge, Tribute is unlikely to pay off the rather substantial investment it requires. Furthermore, even when it does function as a village, it’s likely to be a stop card (unless your opponent has many Victory cards). Thus, Tribute may not even be better than a Necropolis, further stressing your ability to draw your deck.

The presence of particular effects and card types can slightly modulate Tribute’s effectiveness.

• If your opponent has enough of them, dual-type cards with relevant types (such as Nobles or Crown) can increase the expected value of your Tribute plays.
• On the other hand, strong Night cards such as Vampire and Cursers such as Witch increase the number of cards in your opponent’s deck that cause Tribute to do nothing for you.
• Deck inspection attacks such as Scrying Pool can occasionally be used to help ensure that your Tributes will have the desired effect.

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		The player to your left reveals then discards the top 2 cards of his deck. For each differently named card revealed, if it is an… Action Card, +2 Actions Treasure Card, +   Victory Card, +2 Cards	Intrigue 1st Edition	July 2009
		The player to your left reveals then discards the top 2 cards of their deck. For each differently named card revealed, if it is an… Action Card, +2 Actions Treasure Card, +   Victory Card, +2 Cards	Intrigue 1st Edition	November 2021

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	朝貢 (pron. cháogòng)				Error: Refers to "Gold" cards rather than "Treasure" cards.
Czech	Dar poddaných (lit. subjects' gift)
Dutch	Tolheffing (lit. toll)			Je linkerbuurman toont de bovenste 2 kaarten van zijn trekstapel en legt deze af. Voor elke getoonde kaart met een verschillende naam, krijg je voor een... Actiekaart: +2 Acties Geldkaart: + Overwinningskaart: +2 Kaarten.	Eerste editie (2009)
Finnish	Kymmenykset (lit. tithe)
French	Hommage
German	Tribut			Dein linker Nachbar muss die obersten beiden Karten von seinem Nachziehstapel aufdecken und diese ablegen. Für jede Karte mit unterschiedlichem Namen erhältst du etwas. Bei einer… Aktionskarte: +2 Aktionen Geldkarte: + Punktekarte: +2 Karten	(2009)
Hungarian	Sarc
Italian	Tributo
Japanese	貢物 (pron. mitsugimono)
Korean	공물 (pron. gongmul)
Norwegian	Tiende (lit. tithing)
Polish	Danina			Gracz po twojej lewej odkrywa, a następnie odrzuca, 2 karty z wierzchu swojej talii. Otrzymujesz za każdą inaczej nazwaną… kartę Akcji: +2 akcje    kartę Skarbu: +     kartę Zwycięstwa: +2 karty	(2016)
Russian	Подать (pron. podat', lit. tax)
Spanish	Tributo			El jugador de tu izquierda revela y descarta las 2 cartas superiores de su mazo. Por cada carta revelada con nombre diferente, tú ganas: si se trata de una carta... de Acción, +2 Acciones; de Tesoro, +; de Victoria, +2 Cartas.	(2009)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

I took this from the 4th set, as a natural fit here due to the cards with two types. The original version had each adjacent player reveal their top card. I changed that to one player so it would work in 2-player games, and then changed it to discard when Thief changed to discard. Once it changed to discarding it could have gone back to hitting adjacent players and would have worked in 2-player games. I kept this version though, because it seemed a little more interesting, and because the player to your left is more likely to not be shuffling. Also the original didn't say "differently named," but that was essential to keep the card from being too strong early in a game.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Intrigue Cards, 2011

Potential for replacement

Random resources are more interesting when based on your own deck, e.g. Ironmonger, than when based on your opponent, e.g. Chariot Race, but a fixed Tribute isn't out of the question. It's not on my mind though; it's not a great starting point.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Product Idea - Dominion: Memories, 2011

Second Edition Removal

This isn't that good, but is better than most of these cards. It's not popular though. Hosing Nobles / Harem / Great Hall is not great. Some people feel like it's attacking them, since it can flip over good cards; I think it tends to help as much as hurt, but so what, I don't need people to feel bad over a non-attack. I'll say it for everyone: it wasn't the greatest card in the world; it was just Tribute.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Dominion 2nd Editions, 2016