Gainer

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Workshop, a gainer card.

A gainer is any card which allows you to gain cards without buying them. The simplest example is Workshop. They often work well with Gardens strategies, as they allow you to gain more cards than you have buys. They can also be useful for picking up engine components, especially cheap ones.

Cards that allow you to trash one card and gain another, like Remodel, are usually considered to be in a separate category from gainers, since they don't increase your deck size. However, they can sometimes have similar functions for gaining engine components or accelerating a three-pile ending.

Types of gainers

Cards in italics have been removed.

Workshop variants

These cards let you gain cards up to a particular maximum cost. Many of them work well in combinations with cost reduction methods like Highway, which will let you gain more expensive cards than you usually can.

Feast and Wish gain a card, but as one-shots act more as temporary replacements than gainers.

Disciple (from Adventures), Kiln and Way of the Rat (from Menagerie), and Specialist (from Allies) can gain you a copy of a card that you play, regardless of cost. Sunken Treasure, from Allies, can gain a copy of a card you didn't play, regardless of cost.

Trash gainers

These cards can gain cards out of the Trash instead of the supply:

Thief and Noble Brigand technically gain cards from the trash as well, but only the cards trashed as part of resolving their Attack abilities.

On-buy/gain gainers

These cards resemble the above in gaining cards up to or at a particular cost, but do so when you buy or gain another card, rather than when you play the gainer itself.

Silver gainers

Since Silver is present in every game, and is often a useful card but rarely powerful, there are several cards that use gaining Silver as a decent but not very powerful bonus.

Gold gainers

These cards are able to gain a Gold, often at some cost such as having to trash a card.

Other treasure gainers

These cards can be used to gain other Treasures — some specifically Copper or Spoils; others whatever Treasure happens to be available.

Other specific-card gainers

When gain/buy/trash gainers

Edge cases

  • Though it does not gain a card, Adventures: Inheritance does set aside a card from the Supply that is included in your deck at the end of the game.
  • Though Nocturne: Changeling trash itself and gains a copy of a card you have in play, both effects are not related. Furthermore as a one-shot Changeling acts more as a temporary replacement than a gainer.
  • Though it does not gain a card, Menagerie: Camel Train does move a card from the Supply to your Exile mat that is included in your deck at the end of the game (or earlier if you legitimately gain a copy and choose to discard the ones in Exile).


v . t . e
Attacks Attack immunity • Curser • Deck inspection attack • Deck order attack • Handsize attack • Junking attack • Trashing attack • Turn-worsening attack
Buy/Money +Buy • Cost-reducer • Disappearing money • Overpay • Peddler variant • Terminal silver • Virtual coin • Virtual +Buy
Cycling Deck discarder • Deck inspector • Digging • Discard for benefit • Sifter
Terminality Cantrip • Non-terminal • Non-terminal draw • Soft terminal • Terminal • Terminal draw • Throne Room variant • Village • Conditional non-terminal
Other Alt-VP • Basic cards • Draw-to-x • Duration draw • Command variant • Gainer • Luck-based • Non-Attack interaction • One-shot • Remodeler • Split pile • Top decker • Trasher • Vanilla • Extra turn
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