Cartographer
Cartographer | |
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Info | |
Cost | |
Type(s) | Action |
Kingdom card? | Yes |
Set | Hinterlands |
Illustrator(s) | Mark Poole |
Card text | |
+1 Card +1 Action Look at the top 4 cards of your deck. Discard any number of them, then put the rest back on top in any order. |
Cartographer is an Action card from Hinterlands. It is a cost cantrip deck inspector which offers the ability to sift through and sort the top 4 cards of your deck. It is hard to imagine a deck that would not benefit from a Cartographer, as the sorting/sifting ability plays well in both Big Money and engine decks.
Contents |
FAQ
Official FAQ
- You draw a card first, then look at the top 4 cards of your deck.
- If there are fewer than 4 cards left (even after shuffling), just look at as many as you can.
- Discard any number of the cards you looked at - none, all four, or something in-between - and put the rest back on top of your deck in any order.
- You do not reveal any of the cards, except whatever ends up on top of your discard pile.
Other Rules clarifications
Strategy Article
Cartographer is like another version of Navigator. It provides no coin, but is a cantrip, allowing it to be easily added to any deck. It can greatly speed deck cycling, drawing and discarding up to 5 cards each turn, but its main strength lies in its ability to discard weak cards.
Cartographer only sees 4 cards, but it's much more flexible than Navigator's all-or-nothing discard. However, the higher price tag gives it a lot more competition (cards costing are much more powerful than ones costing overall). Still, it holds up reasonably well in most Engines and benefits any card which wants some information about what cards are on your deck, like Wishing Well or Mystic. The junk discarding effect is useful when you are unable to trash effectively, but serves little purpose when there's nothing to discard.
Cartographer can be a good buy in some Big Money games, especially if there are few other desirable Actions costing or less. Cartographer is a self-replacing card so it never hurts to draw it in your current hand, but it also can discard VP and copper, increasing buying power on the next turn. Big money decks typically do not have trashing, so Cartographer is likely to increase buying power whenever it is played. Cartographer also helps in the endgame, discarding Victory cards and avoiding a slow-down. In these decks, the optimal play for Cartographer usually involves discarding all copper and Victory cards, unless you can guarantee buying a Province by retaining Coppers.
Terminal draw big money benefits less from Cartographer, as it is more likely to draw the card dead (without any actions to play it). But the card can fit well into decks with a single terminal action that does not draw any cards. For example, in Big Money+Sea Hag, Cartographer can sort through curses (and Sea Hags once the curses run out), and is never going to be drawn dead.
Synergies/Combos
- Sifting/Sorting can aid or help trigger Menagerie, Wishing Well, Scrying Pool, Herald
- Discard ability can trigger Tunnel's Gold gaining ability
- In a pinch, can substitute for trashing in some engines.
Antisynergies
- Heavy trashing, since you'll have nothing to discard
- Terminal draw Big Money
- Without synergies like above, Cartographer is weaker than other
Alternate versions
Digital version for Dominion Online
Trivia
In other languages
- Czech: Kartograf
- Dutch: Cartograaf
- Finnish: Kartanpiirtäjä
- French: Cartographe
- German: Kartograph
- Italian: Cartografo
- Japanese: 地図職人 (pron. chizu shokunin, lit. mapmaker)
- Spanish: Cartógrafo
Secret History