Hunting Grounds
Hunting Grounds | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Dark Ages |
Illustrator(s) | Simon Jannerland |
Card text | |
+4 Cards When you trash this, gain a Duchy or 3 Estates. |
Hunting Grounds is an Action card from Dark Ages. At +4 Cards, it's the most powerful terminal draw card around - with a price to match! It can set up super-powerful engines, if you can get enough of them early enough!
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- When you play this, draw 4 cards.
- If this is trashed, you either gain a Duchy or 3 Estates, your choice.
- These cards come from the Supply and are put into your discard pile.
- If you choose the 3 Estates and there are not 3 left, just gain as many as you can.
Other Rules clarifications
- If you trash Hunting Grounds and the Duchy pile is empty, you can still choose Duchy (and gain nothing).
Strategy Article
Original article by werothegreat
Hunting Grounds has the highest draw without penalty in the game, and a cost to match. Along with that, it has an on-trash ability that can give you an edge in in the right kingdom.
How does it compare to other terminal draw cards?
The baseline here is Smithy. To increase my hand by 6 cards (and still have Actions left for other things), I'd need to play 3 Villages and 3 Smithies. I can get the same effect with 2 Villages and 2 Hunting Grounds. However, Hunting Grounds' cost means that you (normally) can't open with it, and if there's a cheaper draw card in the kingdom, it's perfectly reasonable to go for those first and get Hunting Grounds later. In some games, you may find yourself picking up Hunting Grounds after you've already set up your engine to ensure its reliability as you start to green. Also, just because Hunting Grounds draw more than other cards, doesn't mean you can get by with less of them. Hunting Grounds has the same chance to line up with a Village as every other draw card in a 5-card hand, and 3 Villages + 3 Hunting Grounds means I've increased my hand by 9 cards.
Note that Hunting Grounds high cost makes it ill-suited to big money and slogs.
What about the on-trash ability?
Trash for benefit cards love Hunting Grounds. If you're at a point where you're trashing Golds and engine pieces for Victory cards anyway, Hunting Grounds is a prime target, since it nets you 3 more every time. In fact, you might pick up extra Hunting Grounds in the mid to late game just to stock up on fodder; if you have an engine that relies on other draw cards, you should consider picking up Hunting Grounds just to trash, as long as the right TfB cards are in the kingdom. Whether to go with the Duchy or the three Estates will depend on the game state and the kingdom; taking the Estates can help empty another pile, so be on the lookout for that.
When should I start trashing Hunting Grounds?
As close to your last turn as possible, preferably on your last turn. While you may want to start trashing Golds to TfB cards as you move from mid to late game, Hunting Grounds' draw is usually much more useful to you until the very end of the game.
Other interesting interactions:
- Hermit can trash Hunting Grounds from the discard, so you don't have to ponder trashing it or drawing with it
- Silk Road loves the Estates gain
- Farmland a Hunting Grounds for an 11 swing
- Graverobber can both trash (for benefit) and regain Hunting Grounds, sometimes on the same turn
Trivia
In other languages
- Finnish: Metsästysmaat
- French: Territoire de chasse
- German: Jagdgründe
- Japanese: 狩場 (pron. kariba)
- Spanish: Coto de Caza
Secret History