Outpost
| Outpost | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Info | |
| Cost |
 |
| Type(s) | Action - Duration |
| Kingdom card? | Yes |
| Set |
Seaside |
| Illustrator(s) | Claus Stephan |
| Card text | |
| You only draw 3 cards (instead of 5) in this turn’s Clean-up phase. Take an extra turn after this one. This can’t cause you to take more than two consecutive turns. | |
Outpost is an Action-Duration card from Seaside. When played, it lets you take an extra turn - albeit an extra turn where you draw fewer cards. This is good if you have a way to guarantee that this extra turn is still pretty good even with only three cards, but weak if you end up having mediocre extra turns.
FAQ
Official FAQ
- The extra turn is completely normal except that your starting hand for it is only 3 cards.
- This means that you only drew 3 cards instead of 5 cards during the Clean-up phase of the turn when you played Outpost.
- Leave Outpost in front of you until the end of the extra turn.
- If you play Outpost as well as a "Now and at the start of your next turn" card, such as Merchant Ship, the turn from Outpost will be that next turn, so you'll get those then.
- If you manage to play Outpost twice in one turn, you will still only get one extra turn.
- If you play Outpost during an extra turn, it won't give you another turn.
Other Rules clarifications
- Remember that the extra turn is completely normal (if it happens); it is the turn in which you play outpost which is different, in that you only draw three cards during cleanup.
- Interactions with Possession are difficult: remember that when your opponent Possesses you, he makes you take an extra turn, and makes all decisions for you.
- So, if your opponent plays a Possession, then plays makes you play an Outpost during that Possessed turn, they will get to see the three cards you draw; then you will take your 3-card Outpost extra turn, since that will only be your second turn in a row; and then you will take your regular turn.
- If your opponent plays two Possessions, you take two extra turns from them; so if your opponent then makes you play an Outpost on the second Possessed turn, you will draw only 3 cards during that cleanup phase but will NOT get an extra turn, you will just take your turn with a 3-card hand.
- If your opponent plays two (or more) Possessions and makes you play an Outpost during the first Possessed turn, they will get to make you decide when to take the extra turn from Outpost; they can make you take an extra turn with only 3 cards after the first Possessed turn, or they can choose to delay your Outpost turn (and then Outpost does not give you an extra turn since it can't make you take more than two turns in a row.)
Strategy Article
There isn't a comprehensive strategy article for Outpost.
Outpost is a card that can be quite bad in some circumstances, but that combos with quite a few cards, and can be dominating with the right support. Outpost depends on some way of guaranteeing that the extra 3-card turn will be good. In a Big Money type deck, or a rush strategies like Gardens or Duke/Duchy, the 3-card turn is likely to be quite poor, and the 
spent on Outpost is probably better spent on any number of other terminal actions, possibly even cheaper cards like Smithy.
Duration cards can give you a modest next-turn bonus, both in terms of virtual coin (Lighthouse,Merchant Ship, Fishing Village) or card draw (Wharf,Caravan) to ensure that your Outpost turn is better than a typical 3-card turn. Seaside also has other ways of setting up your Outpost turn like Native Village or Treasury. Cantrips that provide virtual coin, such as Peddler or Market can work well with Outpost, but Treasury is stronger because it is reliable. These methods, however, are still not using outpost's full potential. Outpost can sometimes be harmful when used with durations--if you miss a key price point on your Outpost turn, the durations will end on that turn rather than carrying through into your next 5-card turn.
Engines that are able to draw their deck every turn, even starting from a 3-card hand, make Outpost turns just as valuable as a regular turn. Draw-up-to-X engines, like those based on Library or Watchtower also make the turn as good as a typical turn, so long as one is able to draw both a village and drawing card. Minion decks also work well with Outpost: so long as at least one Minion is drawn, the second turn is about as good as any other.
Scheme is a very good card to include in decks with Outpost, as it can guarantee certain cards to end up in the Outpost hand. This can help ensure deck drawing by top-decking a village and/or card drawer. Haven is another good option to send a card to the Outpost turn; although it does not allow one to play the sent card this turn, it increases the hand size for the next turn. Haven can smooth out engines using Outpost, but because it reduces the handsize by one on the current turn, too many of them can harm some decks.
Outpost is usually a poor first purchase of a cost-card; early in the game the Outpost turn is likely to be very weak, and the early purchase of this card can slow down a deck. In most decks, only buying one Outpost is necessary. Engines that reliably draw the whole deck cannot benefit from a second outpost, and most decks where one might be tempted to buy two Outposts would be unlikely to benefit enough from the outpost to begin with to make it worth the opportunity cost.
Synergies/Combos
- Durations
- Cards which set up your next turn: Treasury, Alchemist, and, to a lesser extent, Courtyard
- A large Native Village mat
- Cards that can easily recover from small handsize: Minion, Library and other draw-up-to-N cards, Menagerie
- Scheme
- Minion
- Scrying Pool
Antisynergies
- Big Money or rush strategies
- Silver-based strategies are likely to have mediocre Outpost turns
- Possession does not work well with Outpost and makes people go look up FAQs and still not understand what's supposed to happen and why
Trivia
In other languages
- French: Avant-poste
- German: Aussenposten
Secret History
Retrospective
