Dominion Card Game Strategy: Top 50 Dominion Tips For Beginners

Dominion, the hit strategy card game may seem intimidating to jump into from looking at it on the outside.

The seemingly complex card game can be broken down into easy understandable bits for just about anyone to become a master at Dominion. Here I present some of the lessons I have learned for playing the game a while and also other tips from veteran players.

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• Decide on a strategy before the game starts. It is hard to start a new strategy when you are already pretty far into the game.
• Know your opponents. Try to predict what strategies they will use. This will help you pick your own strategy.
• Keep your card area organized, make sure your draw deck and trash piles aren’t all over the place and leave room to lay cards down.
• Announce clearly what actions you are laying down for everyone to hear.
• Don’t rely on using only currency cards to win the game because it can slow up the deck.
• Big deck isn’t always a good thing. If you acquire a big deck with worthless cards then it will slow down your progress.
• Make every turn count because every turn is important.
• Read cards carefully. Every choice of wording is essential for how the cards are played.
• Don’t become too attached to the Estate cards you start out with. Don’t be afraid to trash them, they sometimes slow down your progress and aren’t worth as much.
• Don’t concern yourself with getting lots of copper unless you intend to pair it with another card.
• Don’t mindlessly play a turn, every turn could be a crucial turning point in the game.
• Take advantage of action cards
• Create an action chain, laying cards down that give you additional actions and allow you to play card after card.
• Try to shoot for buying Provinces exclusively to gain victory points
• Start buying Provinces when you feel confident to continue buying turn after turn.
• Start buying Provinces when you think another player can confidently buy turn after turn.
• Try to get a feel for when the Endgame is coming so you can be prepared and not surprised when the game is over.
• Always be working your way up to be able to afford Gold
• Chapels are a very cost efficient card. Buy towards the beginning.
• Trash Estates with Chapel to get a more potent deck.
• Use your Chapel to trash Curses so you get rid off potential negative points.
• Village is only powerful paired with other cards because it has to lead to something else.
• Don’t get stuck in using a chain of Villages with no other actions to play.
• Calculate actions you can use before you lay down so your deck can be the most powerful it can be.
• Know what cards you have in your deck so you can know what to expect is coming up.
• Market is a powerful card to be chained together with other Markets. Giving you a lot of different benefits.
• +Buy is more beneficial towards Endgame because you need more opportunities to buy things at that point.
• Cellar is more powerful in bigger decks because it moves through things quickly.
• Remodel is good for upgrading Estates and Coppers,
• Smithy is more useful paired with other action cards because you can run out of actions quick with it.
• Mine is great for upgrading Currency because it works on an upgrading basis.
• Get a feel when other opponents are relying on attacks for their strategy.
• If opponents are relying on attacks, then attack back.
• Witch and Militia make for great attack cards.
• Throne Room is good paired with Laboratory or Market.
• Understand Engine strategy, moving through as many actions in your deck as you can.
• Understand Big Money strategy, acquiring as much big treasure as you can.
• Understand Slog strategy, slowing down the game with attacks or other useless cards.
• Understand Rush strategy, ending the game as quickly as possible.
• Understand Combo strategy, solely relying on a 2-3 card combo to get you a victory.
• Copper and Curses cost zero and can be bought, find a way to work that in your strategy if you can.
• Experiment with new cards if you are stuck, you may find a new card you love.
• Gardens is great for a Slog strategy.
• Mine is great for Big Money strategy.
• Village is great for Engine strategy.
• Buying out low cost decks is good for Rush strategy.
• Examine your opponent’s strategy for future use.
• Start with base set, learn the game, then try Intrigue expansion pack.
• After Intrigue, try Seaside, then try Prosperity, then you are pretty much ready for any other expansion pack after that!
• Look into creating new combos with using cards that aren’t in the same expansion pack.

Read More Dominion Advanced Guides:

1) Dominion Strategy https://dominionstrategy.com/

2) Thoughtful Gamer https://thethoughtfulgamer.com/2017/10/22/10-strategy-tips-dominion/

3) Stock Exchange Board Games https://boardgames.stackexchange.com/questions/5689/is-there-a-strategy-for-consistent-winning-in-the-base-dominion-game-with-the-ba

4) Spruce Crafts https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/dominion-basic-strategy-action-tips-410894

5) Board Game Geek https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/622188/basic-dominion-strategy-guide