Upgrade
Upgrade | |
---|---|
Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Intrigue |
Illustrator(s) | Matthias Catrein |
Card text | |
+1 Card +1 Action Trash a card from your hand. Gain a card costing exactly more than it. |
Upgrade is an Action card from Intrigue. It is a cantrip trasher, since it gives +1 Card/+1 Action and can trash one card, letting you gain a card costing more. Since there are usually no cards costing , this is an effective way of trashing Coppers, as well as Upgrading estates into Silvers or -cost actions.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- Draw a card first. Then, you must trash a card from your hand and gain a card costing exactly more than the trashed card.
- The gained card has to be a card in the Supply, and it goes into your discard pile.
- If there are no cards available for that cost, you do not get one (you still trashed a card though).
- If you do not have a card in your hand to trash, you neither trash nor gain a card.
- Card costs are affected by Bridge. Since Bridge affects the costs of the card you trash and the card you gain, in most cases the Bridge will have no net effect. But since cards cannot go below zero in cost, a Bridge played before an Upgrade would allow you to trash a Copper (cost of zero, even with the Bridge) and gain an Estate (cost of 1 as a result of the Bridge).
Other Rules clarifications
First you trash a card, and resolve all of its on-trash effects; then you gain a card, and then resolve all on-gain effects.
Strategy Article
Original article on the forums by Mean Mr Mustard.
One of the strengths of Upgrade is the cycling ability that comes with it being a self replacing non-terminal. Terminal trashers such as Remake or Remodel can be powerful trashers, but sometimes buying and using them can fatally slow down the tempo of deck progression: a turn buying or using one of them will often yield no other benefit.
Upgrade rarely is an outright bad buy in the first four turns, as there are not too many Kingdoms that will be hurt by the easy trashing of Coppers or Estates. Chapel or Apothecary scenarios might not benefit from Upgrade and on scary Big Money boards Upgrade may be a deadly distraction, but on the whole it is a very strong card, especially if the Kingdom has non-terminals. Think Menagerie, although even Wishing Wells and Villages can be great targets for Upgraded Estates.
It is certainly possible to go too far and buy too many Upgrades. There are times, however, when it makes sense to buy multiple copies going even into the mid-game. Remember, extra Upgrades can be easily converted into Gold in turn 7-10 to make a strong push into the VP buying stage of the game. This is board dependent. In non-treasure setups it can be a very strong play to buy multiple Upgrades in order to quickly cycle and kill the starting cards. Multiple Upgrades can also help against Cursing attacks, if you can stay on top of it and not let your opponent get too far ahead.
Synergies/Combos
- Upgrades can be Upgraded into Grand Markets.
- Good cantrip -cost cards to upgrade your starting Estates into
Antisynergies
- Shelters, especially if there's no good 2-cost card on the board
- Poor House, since it costs and you will gain it from trashing Copper
- Big Money
Trivia
In other languages
- Chinese: 升級 (pron. shēngjí)
- Czech: Pokrok
- Dutch: Opwaardering
- Finnish: Parannustyö
- French: Mise à niveau
- German: Anbau
- Hungarian: Fejlesztés
- Italian: Potenziamento
- Japanese: 改良 (pron. kairyō)
- Norwegian: Oppgradering
- Polish: Rozbudowa
- Russian: Улучшение (pron. uluchshyeniye)
- Spanish: Mejora
Secret History