Replace

Replace
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Attack
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Intrigue
Illustrator(s)	Claus Stephan
Card text
Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing up to more than it. If the gained card is an Action or Treasure, put it onto your deck; if it's a Victory card, each other player gains a Curse.

Replace is an Action–Attack card from the second edition of Intrigue. It is a remodeler that can be used as a curser as well if you use it to gain a Victory card.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• Like Remodel, you first trash a card from your hand, then gain a card from the Supply costing up to more than the trashed card, putting the gained card into your discard pile.
• Replace gives you an additional bonus based on the types of the gained card; if it is an Action or Treasure you move it to the top of your deck, and if it is a Victory card the other players each gain a Curse.
• It is possible to get both bonuses; if you gain Harem, Mill, or Nobles with Replace, it both goes on your deck and causes the other players to each gain a Curse.

Other Rules clarifications

• Replace is not subject to the no-visiting rule. If you gain an Action or Treasure with Replace, it is first gained to your discard pile (or whatever its default gain location is), and then it is moved to the top of your deck if possible. If an on-gain effect causes it to be moved elsewhere first, Replace will fail to topdeck it. So for example, if you gain an Action card and then use Innovation on it, Replace cannot remove the card from your play area and put it onto your deck.
  • If you do this with an Action-Victory card (like Nobles), that does not stop Replace from giving out Curses.
  • Replace will also fail to move a card if it moves away, and then moves back to the same place. For example, if you gain an Experiment, exile it to Gatekeeper, then gain the second Experiment and discard the first Experiment from Exile, Replace will still fail to topdeck the Experiment, even though it's still in your discard pile.

Strategy

Replace is an expensive Remodel variant, but with a twist. What the twist is, and how strong it is, varies with the type of card gained.

If you gained a Treasure, Replace’s effect is usually unhelpful. Generally, gaining Silver or Gold is not as strong as gaining an Action card (at least if there are villages on the board), and adding a stop card to the top of your deck slows down your cycling and reduces an engine’s chance of drawing well.

If you gained an Action card, then putting it on top of your deck is usually useful—you’ll get to see it sooner than you otherwise would, which is especially handy if it’s a village or a draw card. This is a useful effect, but it isn’t enough to make Replace attractive on its own. If gains are limited, or if there are strong -cost Actions to turn your Coppers into and/or strong -cost Actions to turn your Estates into, then it can be useful, but it’s usually worse than Remodel for this application given Replace’s high opportunity cost.

Where Replace really shines is in gaining Victory cards. Typically, the greening process slows your deck down and reduces its abilities. By giving your opponents a Curse when you green, Replace mitigates this effect by slowing your opponents down as well. Additionally, the -1  from the Curse is more relevant by the time you want to be scoring points. Replace is strong when paired with a Gold gainer such as Bandit or Courtier, as it can turn those Golds into Provinces while giving your opponent Curses. This also means that Replacing a Copper into an Estate—normally a terrible play with Remodel—is much more reasonable, as you keep the same number of junk cards while your opponent gains one. Replace also makes milling Provinces more appealing, as doing so now also allows you to Curse your opponents at the same time.

Replace has a notable synergy with dual-type Victory cards such as Mill. Unlike pure Victory cards, these are much better to gain early on, so you can make use of Replace’s cursing attack earlier in the game and take advantage of the fact that its topdecking effect is also activated.

Replace usually shines most in the late game, but if you want one it will often be worth getting early on, especially if the other trashing or gaining options are weak. It can also be used for gain and play without needing to draw your whole deck, since the Action (or less commonly, Treasure) you are gaining will be put on top of your deck.

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.

• Titandrake's 2019 article

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing up to more than it. If the gained card is an Action or Treasure, put it onto your deck; if it's a Victory card, each other player gains a Curse.	Intrigue 2nd Edition	October 2016

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	替身 (pron. tìshēn)
Dutch	Vervanging			Vernietig een kaart uit je hand. Pak een kaart die ten hoogste meer kost dan de vernietigde kaart. Is de gepakte kaart een actie- of geld- kaart, leg deze dan op je trekstapel. Is het een overwinningskaart, dan pakt iedere andere speler een Vloek.	2. Edition (2016)
French	Remplacement
German	Austausch			Entsorge eine deiner Handkarten. Nimm eine Karte, die bis zu mehr als jene kostet. Ist die genommene Karte eine Aktions- oder Geldkarte, lege sie auf deinen Nachziehstapel; ist es eine Punktekarte, nimmt jeder Mitspieler einen Fluch.	2. Edition (2021) one or more other versions listed here
Japanese	交替 (pron. kōtai)			手札1枚を廃棄すろ。それよりコストが最大高いカード1枚を獲得する。獲得したのがアクションカードまたは財宝カードの場合、山札の上に置く。獲得したのが勝利点カードの場合、他のプレイヤーは全員、呪い1枚を獲得する。 (両方に該当する場合、順に実行する)。
Polish	Podmiana				Although Polish version is not released, this name is referred to in Polish Dominion 2E rulebook.
Russian	Замещение (pron. zamyeshshyeniye)			Выкиньте карту из руки. Получите карту стоимостью не более чем на дороже выкинутой. Если поученная карта Действие или Сокровище, то положите её на верх вашей колоды; если это карта Победы, то каждый другой игрок получает Проклятие.
Spanish	Suplantar			Elimina una carta de tu mano. Gana una carta que cueste hasta más que la carta eliminada. Si la carta ganada es de Acción o de Tesoro, colócala encima de tu mazo; si es una carta de Victoria, todos los demás jugadores ganan una Maldición.	(2016)

Trivia

Official card art.

Secret History

An attack, so ostensibly replacing Saboteur. A Remodel that gave bonuses based on what was trashed/gained was an old idea. Prior to that I had a bonus based on the types of the first card you bought; that was fun but the delay in-between playing it and it doing something was poor. Making it a Remodel fixed that. I tried different bonuses for the three types, but it was too wordy. I tried giving you a copy of the card if it was an Action or Treasure; that was too strong. The Cursing part stayed constant. It's cool that it's a Witch that doesn't hit for a while - unless they are willing to gain an Estate to hit you, or this is one of those games with Nobles or Harem or Mill.

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

View all Dominion cards