Editing Importer

{{Improve}}

{{Infobox Card
 |name = Importer
 |cost = 3
 |set = Allies
 |type1 = Action
 |type2 = Duration
 |type3 = Liaison
 |illustrator = Jessi J
 |text = At the start of your next turn, gain a card costing up to {{Cost|5|5}}.
 |text2 = Setup: Each player gets '''+4&nbsp;Favors'''.
}}

'''Importer''' is an [[Action]]-[[Duration]]-[[Liaison]] card from [[Allies]]. It is a [[gainer]] that can gain {{cost|5}} cards, but delays when you get them. It also changes the setup for [[Favors]]/[[Liaison|Liaisons]] so that players start with a total of 5 Favors, rather than 1; but unlike other Liaisons, it provides no way of acquiring additional Favors beyond the ones you start with.

== FAQ ==
=== Official FAQ ===
* At the start of the game, each player gets five Favors instead of one. Importer doesn't provide a way to get any more Favors during the game.

== Strategy ==
Importer is a delayed gainer that is among the cheaper gainers, priced equally with {{Card|Workshop}}, and able to gain cards costing {{Cost|1}} more. It is a bit of an odd card in that its presence changes the game even if no one buys it, due to the addition of favors. This effect is also highly variable, based on which [[ally]] is chosen. On average, the presence of Importer tends to speed up the game, but not always.

Importer is slow for two reasons. First, the delay in gaining makes it so that you are less likely to be able to use the gained card soon, by increasing the likelihood of the gained card coming after a reshuffle. Second, by staying in play longer, Importer is not able to played as often as a vanilla gainer. These downsides are sometimes offset by the benefit of being able to gain cards costing {{Cost|5}}, which tend to be dramatically stronger than cheaper cards. Also, especially in the late-game, gaining a {{Card|Duchy}}, perhaps repeatedly, can be a winning difference in a close game. The slowness of Importer is mitigated when the ally is {{Ally|Trappers' Lodge}}, which both allows you to play Importer faster, and then play the gained card faster, so you can even end up guaranteeing the play of a {{Cost|5}}-cost card on your fourth turn; but keep in mind this ally also speeds up other strategies so it won't necessarily make this card viable when it otherwise wouldn't be.

Because it is slow, Importer is usually not worth buying when the only cards worth gaining cost {{Cost|4}} or less. It is strongest in situations where there is one or more cards costing {{Cost|5}} that your deck would benefit from having multiple copies of, so you can always use it to gain a card at this price point. In the presence of good alt-treasure costing {{Cost|5}}, Importer can boost a money-based strategy. More often though, it facilitates construction of an [[engine]], especially when the ally is {{Ally|Peaceful Cult}}, which in the presence of Import functions almost like a built-in {{Card|Chapel}}. Usually the best time to use Importer to construct an engine is when a strong engine can be made with a small number of cards costing {{Cost|5}}. In a deck-drawing engine you will often want to buy two copies of it.

Because of the high value of gained cards, Import can synergize with trash-for-benefit cards that depend on the value of the trashed card.

Importer can also be useful in a [[slog]], where it can reliably gain Duchies, and the presence of {{Card|Duke}} can make it even stronger for this purpose. Most of the allies make a slog less likely, but {{Ally|Circle of Witches}} makes it more so.
===External strategy articles===
== Versions ==
===English versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Release !! Date 
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|d=1}} || At the start of your next turn, gain a card costing up to {{nowrap|{{Cost|5|5}}.}}{{divline}}Setup: Each player gets '''+4&nbsp;Favors'''. || Allies || March 2022
|}

===Other language versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Language !! Name !! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Notes
|-
! Dutch
| Importeur || {{CardLangVersionImage|Dutch}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|Dutch|d=1}} || Aan het begin van je volgende<br>beurt; pak een kaart die ten<br>hoogste {{Coin|5}} kost.{{divline}}Voorbereiding: iedere speler<br>krijgt '''+4 Diensten'''. || (2022)
|-
!German
| Importeurin || {{CardLangVersionImage|German}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|German|d=1}} || style="padding:15px 20px;"| Zu Beginn deines nächsten Zuges:<br>Nimm eine Karte, die bis zu {{Cost|5}} kostet.{{divline}}Spielvorbereitung: Jeder Spieler erhält '''+4&nbsp;Gefallen'''. || 
|}

== Trivia ==
{{OfficialArt}}
=== Preview ===
{{Quote
|Text=Importer means, you start with 5 [[Favor]]s, but can't get any more (unless there's another [[Liaison]] in the game, obv.). And it [[gainer|gain]]s {{cost|5}}'s, slowly.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=21099.0 Allies Preview 5:More cards]}}

=== Secret History ===
{{Quote
|Text=This started in the {{Card|Odysseys|Odyssey}} pile. It could gain an Odyssey card (crazy), or next turn gain a {{cost|5}}, or discard a {{Card|Silver}} for a this-turn {{cost|5}}. I cut the Silver part and the crazy part, and messed around with it, then wanted it as its own pile. Matt suggested the setup, which is of course the focus of the card now. Initially that version had a [[cantrip]] option on top, then a "+1 Action +1 Favor" option. You only picked it when you couldn't otherwise play the Importer, and it's so much cleaner to not have the extra option.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=21129.0 The Secret History of the Dominion: Allies]
}}
=== Why the setup? ===
{{Quote
|Text=
The whole point was to have a different experience with Favors. You have to be careful how you spend them since you won’t get anymore.
|Name=LastFootnote
|Source=[https://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=5799.msg890621#msg890621 Interview with Donald X.]
}}
{{Quote
|Text=
The bottom was going to have no hope of going with the top. So what it could hope for really was just a simple top that didn't feel weighed down by the bottom.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[https://discord.com/channels/212660788786102272/257241961482813440/1221605151123443742 Dominion Discord, 2024]
}}
{{Navbox Allies}}
{{Navbox Cards}}