Young Witch

Young Witch
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action - Attack
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Cornucopia & Guilds
Illustrator(s)	Jessi J
Card text
+2 Cards Discard 2 cards. Each other player gains a Curse unless they reveal a Bane from their hand. Setup: Add an extra Kingdom card pile costing or to the Supply. Its cards are Banes.

Young Witch is an Action–Attack card from Cornucopia. It is an inexpensive curser, but the kingdom always contains a "Bane" card: another Kingdom card that an opponent can reveal from their hand to block the cursing attack. The Bane may be different each game, and the effectiveness of Young Witch in any given game can depend on which card is the Bane.

The Bane card pile is an 11th card pile added to the Kingdom, and constitutes one of two ways that the Supply can contain more than 10 Kingdom card piles. In this way Young Witch participates in the Cornucopia theme of diversity, since its presence increases the number of differently-named cards in the Supply. Circa the year 2017, a revised edition of the set Guilds & Cornucopia was issued, in which a Bane marker was added to be used sitting underneath the pile as a reminder, however, the second edition of the set removed the Bane marker to make room for other new cards.

Additional rules

Preparation

• In games using Young Witch, choose an additional Kingdom card costing or , put its pile into the Supply[, and mark its pile with the Young Witch randomizer or Bane card (underneath it, sideways)]. This is the "Bane" pile referred to by Young Witch; cards that start the game in this pile are "Bane cards."
• You may choose the card any way you like; for example using the randomizers.
• Cards from this pile are in the Supply and can be gained like other cards.
• Do any setup the Bane card requires.
  • [For example, i]f you are also using the card Trade Route (from Dominion: Prosperity) and the Bane pile is a Victory card pile, that pile gets a Coin token, like other Victory card piles; similarly, if Trade Route itself is the Bane pile, all Victory card piles get tokens as normal.
• If you are using the promotional card Black Market, and Young Witch is in the Black Market deck, put out a Bane pile for Young Witch.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• This card causes there to be an extra pile in the Supply, called the Bane pile.
• The extra pile is just like other Kingdom card piles - it can be bought, it can be gained via cards like Horn of Plenty, it counts for the end game condition.
• When you play Young Witch, after you draw 2 cards and discard 2 cards, each other player may reveal a Bane card from their hand; each player who does not gains a Curse.
• This attack hits other players in turn order, which matters when the Curse pile is low.
• Players may respond to a Young Witch with Reaction cards like Horse Traders or Moat; those happen before Bane cards are revealed.

The Bane marker.

Other rules clarifications

• You may select a Kingdom card pile to use as the Bane in whatever way you want—at random, choosing a card you particularly enjoy, etc.—as long as its cost is or and it's not already part of the Kingdom.
• If Young Witch is in the Black Market deck, you do put out a Bane; however, Black Market itself cannot be the Bane in that instance.
• If the top card of a split pile costs either or (such as Settlers or Herb Gatherer), it can be chosen as the Bane. All cards from the split pile can be revealed to block Young Witch.
  • However, cards that the Bane gives you access to but do not come from the same supply pile cannot block Young Witch. For instance, if Page or Urchin is the Bane, Treasure Hunter or Mercenary is not a Bane card.
• Any setup instructions or rule changes triggered by the presence of the Bane have their normal effect. For instance, if the Bane is a Liaison you have to select an Ally and everyone starts with a Favor token; if the Bane is Tracker, everyone starts with a Pouch; etc.
• Any relevant setup instructions of any other cards will also apply as usual to the Bane. For example, the Bane will still get from Tax; and if it's an Action Supply pile, it may be chosen by Obelisk.
• If the Bane is a Reaction that reacts to an Attack being played and leaves your hand when you use its ability (such as Beggar or Caravan Guard), you cannot both use its Reaction effect and block Young Witch; you must pick one.

Strategy

Young Witch is among the weaker junking attacks, although it can be important if Curses will be difficult or impossible to trash and if there is no good alternative junker, such as Witch or Old Witch. It is often skippable otherwise, since its cursing is unreliable and terminal sifting is usually not overly helpful. If you conclude that Young Witch’s attack may be important to slow down your opponent, getting one in the opening is often beneficial, because Curses hurt more the earlier they are added to a deck.

The Bane pile selection is sometimes relevant in evaluating whether Young Witch will be worthwhile. If the Bane is a card that you would potentially buy in bulk anyway (such as Border Guard), Young Witch is less likely to be an effective attack. Even if you don’t plan to buy them in bulk, some Banes are still very effective at blocking Young Witch and therefore severely reduce its appeal even in a Kingdom where its attack would otherwise be important; examples include Scheme (because it can topdeck itself every turn) and Lighthouse (because it also works as a defense if it is in play rather than in your hand). A weak Bane is less likely to tip the scales, but if the decision to take Young Witch is already marginal, this can occasionally be enough to make it viable. This might happen if the Bane is something you would normally prefer to not buy (such as Beggar) or a card that may be difficult to find in your starting hand (e.g. a one-shot or Reserve card).

Aside from the junking attack, Young Witch provides some light sifting and some synergy with cards you would like to discard, i.e. Tunnel and Village Green. The sifting effect is generally weak, since it's terminal and decreases your hand size, but can be of some use in junky games or for early game cycling.

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.

• WanderingWinder's 2012 article

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+2 Cards Discard 2 cards. Each other player may reveal a Bane card from his hand. If he doesn't, he gains a Curse. Setup: Add an extra Kingdom card pile costing or to the Supply. Cards from that pile are Bane cards.	Cornucopia	June 2011
		+2 Cards Discard 2 cards. Each other player may reveal a Bane card from their hand; if they don't, they gain a Curse. Setup: Add an extra Kingdom card pile costing or to the Supply. Cards from that pile are Bane cards.	Guilds & Cornucopia (2017 printing)	March 2018
		+2 Cards Discard 2 cards. Each other player gains a Curse unless they reveal a Bane from their hand. Setup: Add an extra Kingdom card pile costing or to the Supply. Its cards are Banes.	2022 Wording change Cornucopia & Guilds (Second Edition)	June 29, 2022 March 2024

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Czech	Mladá čarodějka
Dutch	Jonge heks
Finnish	Nuori noita
French	Jeune sorcière
German	Junge Hexe			+2 Karten Lege 2 Karten ab. Jeder Mitspieler darf eine Bannkarte von seiner Hand aufdecken. Wer das nicht macht, muss sich einen Fluch nehmen.	(2014) translation error: omitted setup
	Junge Hexe			+2 Karten Lege 2 deiner Handkarten ab. Jeder Mitspieler darf einen Bann aus seiner Hand aufdecken und wer das nicht tut, nimmt einen Fluch. Spielvorbereitung: Legt einen zusätzlichen Königreichkarten-Stapel, der oder kostet, in den Vorrat. Karten von jenem Stapel dienen als Bann.	(2019)
	Junge Hexe			+2 Karten Lege 2 deiner Handkarten ab. Jeder Mitspieler nimmt einen Fluch, falls er keinen Bann aus seiner Hand aufdeckt. Spielvorbereitung: Legt einen zusätzlichen Königreichkarten-Stapel, der oder kostet, in den Vorrat. Dessen Karten dienen als Bann.
Italian	Giovane Strega
Japanese	魔女娘 (pron. majo musume, lit. witch's daughter)			+2 カードを引く 2枚捨て札にする。他のプレイヤーは全員、手札の災いカード1枚を公開してもよく、公開しなかった場合、呪い1枚を獲得する。 準備:コストまたはのカードによる、追加の王国カードの山をサプライに置く。その山のカードを災いカードとする。
Polish	Młoda Wiedźma			+2 Karty Odrzuć 2 karty. Każdy z pozostałych graczy może odkryć kartę Zguby ze swojej ręki. Jeśli tego nie zrobi dodaje Klątwę. Faza Przygotowania: dodaj do zasobów jeden dodatkowy stos kart królestwa o koszcie lub . Karty z tego stosu to karty Zguby.	(2011)
Russian	Юная Ведьма (pron. yunaya vyed'ma)
Spanish	Bruja Joven

Trivia

Official card art.

Donald X. has stated that Young Witch and Old Witch are the same person. Both cards share the same artist.

Secret History

When I decided to do a Black Market, I also decided to make a card that added a pile. I had also been wanting to have a card that you could Moat with a particular random pile, and the easiest way to specify it was to combine the concepts. At first the extra pile had to cost exactly; it can also cost because that adds some variety there, especially when not playing with lots of sets. That change was jeffwolfe's suggestion. At first the Young Witch "grew up" - she got better once there was an empty pile. That was cute, and some people were sad to see it go, but that version wasn't good enough, and there's only so much space on these cards. She is just always young. Not as good at drawing cards as an adult Witch, and also scared of something - maybe Cellars, or Menageries. *shiver* There was some debate as to how to indicate what the Bane pile was - did we need a mat or what. It was Jay who suggested using the randomizer card turned sideways.

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

Relevant outtakes

Prior to Young Witch, I had an attack that made everyone else discard Silver unless they revealed a particular card, which was either the cheapest card out, or a specific randomly determined card. Like I said under Young Witch, it was simplest to combine the random-Moat idea with the add-a-pile idea.

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