Dominion Dark Ages Cometh

Dominion, a deck-building game, practically exploded into the gaming landscape in October of 2008. There have been several releases since then. Following the original Dominion game, the following expansions were released: Intrigue (a standalone game), Seaside (expansion only), Alchemy (small release, expansion only), Prosperity (small release, expansion only), Cornucopia (small release, expansion only), Hinterlands (expansion only), 5 mini-expansions each with one promotional addition, a new Base Cards set, and now Dominion: Dark Ages.

Dominion: Dark Ages is a massive expansion with 500 cards. And, since the previous expansion (Hinterlands) was launched some time ago, the expectation for its release has grown among the game's devotees.

To add fuel to the already raging fire amongst die-hard fans, the game's developer, Donald X. Vaccarino, has opted to provide previews of some of the components prior to the complete game's debut later this month at Gen Con and the World Masters Dominion Tournament.

Cultist, Hermit, Feodum, Graverobber, Madman, Poor House, Sage, Squire, and Ruined Market are the cards that have been previewed so far, in alphabetical order.

Here are some first ideas on each card, as well as some information about its function:

Cultist is an Action, Attack, and Looter card. It costs 5 coins and has the following rules: +2 Cards. Every other player receives a Ruins. You have the option of playing a Cultist from your hand. +3 Cards when you trash this.

This is an Action card, Hermit. Its regulations are as follows: Examine your garbage cans. You may discard a non-Treasure card from your discard pile or hand. Get a card for up to 3 Coins. If you did not purchase any cards this round and discard this, you will get a Madman from the Madman pile.

This is a Victory card, Feodum. It costs 4 coins and has the following rules: 1 Victory Point for every 3 Silvers in your deck (rounded down). Gain 3 Silvers when you trash this.

Graverobber is a kind of Action card. Its regulations are as follows: Select one: Get a card from the trash worth 3 to 6 Coins and place it on top of your deck; or trash an Action card from your hand and gain a card worth up to 3 Coins more.

This is an Action card, Madman. It costs 0 Coin and can only be gained by using the Hermit card. Its regulations are as follows: +2 Actions. Put this in the Madman pile. If you do, you get +1 card for each card in your hand. (This is not in stock.)

This is an Action card for the Poor House. It costs 1 Coin and has the following rules: +4 Coin. Show your hand. -1 Coin for each Treasure card you have in your hand, up to a maximum of 0 Coin.

This is an Action card, Sage. It costs 3 Coin and has the following rules: +1 Action. Show cards from the top of your deck until you reveal one that costs three coins or more. Put that card in your hand and discard the others.

This is an Action card, Squire. Its regulations are as follows: +1 Coin

Choose one of the following: +2 Actions, +2 Buys, or a Silver. When you discard this, you receive an Attack card.

Ruined Market: Ruined Market is an Action - Ruins card. It costs 0 Coin and has the following rules: +1 Buy.

Now for some last ideas! The Ruins cards released in Dominion: Dark Ages will mostly serve as deck fillers. They will be useless for certain discarding cards like Salvager and Apprentice due to the $0 cost. However, since they are designed to be a negative card, comparable to a Curse, this is to be anticipated.

Squire is essentially a less expensive Steward that can perform everything that a Steward card cannot. The ability to trash it and choose any Attack card is quite powerful. This card allows you to get the pricey (and despised) Possession card without having to buy the equivalent Potion cost card.

Sage may help you cycle the deck faster, but the ability to grab a card from the deck and be assured an action to use to play it is intimidating. Consider establishing a 5/2 with Mountebank in the Supply. You'd probably Curse and Copper the hound out of your opponents before they could even get their own Mountebank!

The most intriguing aspect about Poor House is its price. For the first time in all expansions, there is a card that costs just one Coin. This makes discarding Coppers a bit more difficult when your opponent plays a Governor and chooses the +2 Coin trash for a card in his hand. Sure, dumping Coppers is often a wise decision, but if you're obliged to take a 1 Coin card every time, it may be just as horrible.

The Hermit and Madman cards are clearly related. The Madman pile does not count toward 3-pile endings since it is not regarded "in the Supply." Surprisingly, this card seems to work really well with Tactician. Consider drawing the next five cards after playing the Tactician, then returning your Madman to its plie. After returning the Madman, you'd have 18 cards in your hand. Unbelievable!

Cultist prepares for chaining. Because of the rules, you may practically play whatever Cultist you have in your hand. Imagine striking your opponent with a Cultist chain and then dumping the same amount of Ruins on him. Brutal.

So yet, the only Victory card revealed is Feodum. It is similar to Vineyard in that it counts each group of three Silvers as a Victory Point. Only accumulating a high number of Silvers without 3-piling is simpler than accumulating the same amount of Action cards.

Graverobber is the card that everyone expected to see at some point. It rummages through the garbage and allows you to redeem cards from it. Trashing has finally made its way into the strategic world of Dominion!