Highway (Hinterlands)

Here's a comprehensive strategy guide for Highway:

Highway Strategy Guide

Highway is a powerful card that combines deck smoothing (+1 Card, +1 Action) with a cost reduction effect that can enable devastating combinations and strategies. Understanding how to leverage Highway effectively can dramatically improve your Dominion gameplay.

Core Mechanics and Basic Usage

1. Duration of Effect
2. Highway's cost reduction remains active as long as the card stays in play
3. Multiple Highways stack their effects (two Highways = $2 cost reduction)
4. The effect applies to all cards, including:
5. Cards in the Supply
6. Cards in hand
7. Victory cards

8. Cards from other players' hands (for attacks/interactions)

9. Basic Benefits

10. Doesn't lose you actions (+1 Action)
11. Maintains hand size (+1 Card)
12. Cost reduction enables more purchases or plays per turn
13. Helps smooth deck operation while providing economic benefit

Key Strategic Elements

1. Quantity Considerations
2. Single Highway: Often insufficient for major cost reduction strategies
3. Two Highways: Sweet spot for many combinations
4. Three or more: Can enable powerful mega-turn strategies

5. Consider kingdom composition when deciding how many to buy

6. Timing of Acquisition

7. Early Game (Turns 1-4):
8. Usually too early unless specific combo pieces present
9. Can slow down initial deck development
10. Mid Game (Turns 5-8):
11. Optimal timing for most Highway strategies
12. Economy typically established
13. Combo pieces often in place
14. Late Game (Turn 9+):
15. Usually too late unless part of specific strategy
16. Can still help with Victory card acquisition

Synergies and Combinations

1. Card Drawing Engines
2. Laboratory becomes $4
3. Smithy becomes $3
4. Cheaper draw cards help establish engine faster

5. Multiple Highways make draw cards extremely accessible

6. Villages and Actions

7. Reduced costs help establish action chains
8. Village variants become more accessible
9. Can build engine components more quickly

10. Enables acquisition of multiple key pieces in one turn

11. Throne Room Variants

12. Throne Room/King's Court becoming cheaper enables faster combo assembly
13. Multiple Highway plays via Throne Room create larger cost reductions

14. Can create powerful turn sequences with reduced costs

15. Specific Card Combinations

Strong Synergies: - Bridge: Combined cost reduction can make cards free - Peddler: Becomes extremely cheap during Action-heavy turns - Grand Market: Easier to acquire and chain - Hunting Grounds: Becomes very efficient at $5 - Innovation: Can make expensive cards free to gain - City Quarter: Easier to acquire multiple copies - King's Court: Enables massive cost reduction

Moderate Synergies: - Tournament: Prizes become cheaper - Border Village: Can gain more expensive cards for less - Haggler: More flexibility in gaining additional cards - Fortress: Cheaper to acquire and works well in action chains

Building Strategies Around Highway

1. Engine Building Basic Engine Structure:
2. 2-3 Highways
3. Strong card draw (Labs, Smithies, etc.)
4. Village variants
5. Payload cards

Implementation: a) Early Game - Focus on basic treasure and maybe one Highway - Establish basic draw or village components - Don't over-invest in Highways before engine pieces

b) Mid Game - Acquire additional Highways - Build out engine components - Look for key combo pieces - Begin transitioning away from basic treasure

c) Late Game - Use cost reduction for victory card acquisition - Consider trimming deck if needed - Leverage reduced costs for final scoring push

1. Big Money Variant While not Highway's strongest application, it can work:
2. Buy 1-2 Highways
3. Focus on Gold acquisition
4. Use cost reduction for Provinces

5. Consider key support cards (Witch, Militia, etc.)

6. Rush Strategies Highway can support rush strategies:

7. Make key cards cheaper early
8. Enable multiple purchases per turn
9. Accelerate victory card acquisition
10. particularly effective with Gardens or Silk Road

Counter-Strategies and Weaknesses

1. Weaknesses
2. Requires multiple copies for strongest effect
3. Vulnerable to deck disruption
4. Can be slow to set up

5. Opportunity cost of $5 purchase

6. Counter-Play

7. Attack cards that reduce hand size
8. Cursing attacks can dilute deck
9. Possession can steal big turns

10. Racing strategies can win before setup

11. Defending Against Counters

12. Include trash cards if available
13. Consider defensive cards (Moat, etc.)
14. Build engine quickly and efficiently
15. Don't over-invest in Highways

Kingdom Evaluation

When evaluating Highway's potential in a kingdom, consider:

1. Support Factors
2. Presence of card draw
3. Village availability
4. Throne Room variants
5. Complementary cost reducers

6. Trashing options

7. Red Flags

8. Heavy attacks present
9. Lack of draw cards
10. Alternative powerful $5 cards

11. Rush kingdom composition

12. Decision Matrix Strong Highway Kingdom:

13. Multiple draw cards
14. Action support available
15. Clear engine potential
16. Limited attacks

Weak Highway Kingdom: - Heavy attacks present - Better $5 options - Lack of support cards - Rush-oriented kingdom

Sample Strategies

1. Basic Highway Engine Opening: Silver + Silver Turn 3-4: Highway Turn 5-6: Second Highway + draw cards Turn 7+: Engine pieces and payload Victory Phase: Reduced cost Provinces

2. Highway-Bridge Combo Opening: Silver + Silver Turn 3-4: Highway Turn 5-6: Bridge + Second Highway Turn 7+: Additional Bridges/Highways Victory Phase: Multiple Provinces per turn

3. Highway-Laboratory Chain Opening: Silver + Silver Turn 3-4: Highway Turn 5-6: Laboratory + draw Turn 7+: Additional Highways/Labs Victory Phase: Continuous draw into Provinces

Tips and Tricks

1. Optimization
2. Track Highway placement for maximum effect
3. Consider order of plays carefully
4. Keep track of total cost reduction

5. Plan purchases based on reduced costs

6. Common Mistakes

7. Buying too many Highways too early
8. Neglecting engine components
9. Over-relying on cost reduction

10. Failing to account for attacks

11. Advanced Techniques

12. Use cost reduction for gaining cards mid-turn
13. Calculate optimal Highway quantity
14. Time Highway purchases with engine development
15. Leverage reduced costs for multiple gains

Sample Turn Sequences

1. Basic Engine Turn Highway, Highway, Laboratory, Village, Smithy, Market Result: Significant hand size, multiple buys, reduced costs

2. Combo Turn Highway, Highway (via Throne Room), Bridge, Bridge Result: All cards cost $2 less, enabling multiple purchases

3. Mega Turn Highway, Highway, Highway (via King's Court), multiple actions Result: Maximum cost reduction, potential for multiple Provinces

Conclusion

Highway is a versatile card that can enable powerful strategies through cost reduction and deck smoothing. Success with Highway requires: - Careful kingdom evaluation - Proper timing of purchases - Understanding of combinations - Balance between Highways and support cards - Clear victory condition planning

While not always the optimal $5 card, Highway's potential for enabling powerful combinations and efficient deck building makes it a valuable addition to many strategies. The key to success is recognizing when and how to incorporate Highway into your overall game plan while avoiding common pitfalls and counters.

Metrics for Success

Good Highway Game: - Multiple Highways in play by turn 8 - Engine established by turn 10 - Victory card acquisition by turn 12 - Multiple cards played per turn - Consistent cost reduction

Poor Highway Game: - Single Highway by turn 8 - Incomplete engine by turn 10 - Inconsistent cost reduction - Limited card play - Vulnerable to attacks

Remember that Highway's effectiveness scales with proper support and kingdom composition. When the conditions are right, Highway can enable some of Dominion's most powerful turns and strategies.