Hoard
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Hoard (Prosperity)

Cost: $6

Type: Treasure

Text: Worth $2\dWhile this is in play, when you buy a Victory card, gain a Gold.

Strategy Review

Here's a comprehensive strategy guide for Hoard:

Hoard Strategy Guide

Introduction Hoard is a $6 Treasure card from Prosperity that serves two purposes: providing $2 for purchases and automatically gaining Gold whenever you buy Victory cards. This dual functionality makes it an interesting card that can significantly influence your deck-building strategy and timing of Victory card purchases.

Basic Mechanics - Hoard provides $2 like Silver - When you buy a Victory card while Hoard is in play, you gain a Gold - Multiple Hoards in play will each trigger, giving you multiple Golds per Victory card purchase - The Gold gaining happens automatically and is not optional - The Gold is gained to your discard pile - Hoard works with any Victory card, including Victory-hybrid cards

Key Strengths 1. Economy Boost - Provides immediate buying power like Silver - Creates additional economy through automatic Gold gaining - Can rapidly increase deck quality when buying Victory cards

  1. Auto-Greening Support
  2. Makes buying Victory cards less painful by compensating with Gold
  3. Helps maintain deck quality during the greening phase

  4. Can actually improve deck quality while greening

  5. Scaling Potential

  6. Multiple Hoards stack effectively
  7. Each Victory card purchase becomes increasingly valuable

Weaknesses 1. High Initial Cost - $6 cost makes it harder to acquire early - Competes with other important $6 cards - Often requires specific support to obtain quickly

  1. Delayed Gratification
  2. Must buy Victory cards to get full value
  3. Gold gained goes to discard pile

  4. Takes time to see return on investment

  5. Opportunity Cost

  6. Takes up deck space that could be used for other cards
  7. $2 value is merely adequate for its cost
  8. May be too slow in some fast games

Strategic Considerations

  1. Timing of Acquisition Early Game (Turns 1-7):
  2. Generally too expensive to rush
  3. Consider only with strong treasure-gaining support
  4. Better to focus on engine pieces or cheaper economy

Mid Game (Turns 8-14): - Prime time to acquire Hoards - Look to get 2-3 copies if possible - Position yourself for Victory card purchases

Late Game (Turns 15+): - Usually too late to be worthwhile - Consider only if game will be extended - Focus on Victory cards instead

  1. Number of Copies Optimal number of Hoards depends on several factors:
  2. Game length and pace
  3. Available kingdom cards
  4. Victory card distribution strategy
  5. Deck cycling capability

General guidelines: - 1 Hoard: Minimal impact, but still useful - 2-3 Hoards: Sweet spot for most games - 4+ Hoards: Potentially powerful but risky

  1. Victory Card Buying Strategy With Hoard:
  2. Consider buying Duchies earlier than normal
  3. Small Victory cards become more attractive
  4. Multiple Victory cards per turn become valuable

Without Hoard: - Stick to traditional greening timing - Focus more on deck quality - Be more selective with Victory purchases

Synergies and Combinations

Strong Synergies:

  1. Victory Kingdom Cards
  2. Gardens: Each purchase nets Gold while building towards Gardens value
  3. Duke: Makes Duchy purchases doubly valuable
  4. Harem: Victory-Treasure hybrid maximizes value
  5. Mill: Provides draw while triggering Hoard

  6. Great Hall: Cheap way to trigger Hoard while cycling

  7. Multi-Buy Enablers

  8. Villa: Allows multiple Victory card purchases in one turn
  9. Kings Court: Can play multiple Hoards at once
  10. Throne Room variants: Multiply Hoard effects

  11. Ghost Ship: Helps ensure Hoards and Victory cards line up

  12. Deck Control

  13. Warehouse: Helps find Hoards and Victory cards together
  14. Scout: Reveals Victory cards for planned purchases
  15. Library: Draws until finding needed components

  16. Hunting Party: Reliable way to find unique cards

  17. Treasure Gainers

  18. Mine: Can upgrade Silvers into Hoards
  19. Explorer: Helps reach Hoard's price point
  20. Treasurer: Can retrieve gained Golds quickly
  21. Bank: Benefits from additional Treasures

Anti-Synergies:

  1. Fast Game Endings
  2. Chapel rushing
  3. Gardens rushing

  4. Province rushing strategies

  5. Alternative Victory Conditions

  6. Colonies (unless very strong economy)
  7. Alternate VP tokens

  8. VP chip strategies

  9. Action-Heavy Engines

  10. Limited treasure space
  11. May not want additional Golds
  12. Often prefer other $6 cards

Sample Game Plans

  1. Basic Hoard Strategy Turn 1-4: Build basic economy Turn 5-7: Acquire first Hoard Turn 8-10: Get second Hoard, begin buying Estates/Duchies Turn 11+: Buy Provinces while gaining Golds

  2. Multiple Hoard Rush Turn 1-4: Focus on reaching $6 Turn 5-8: Buy 2-3 Hoards Turn 9-11: Buy cheaper Victory cards Turn 12+: Convert strong economy into Provinces

  3. Engine with Hoard Support Turn 1-7: Build engine components Turn 8-10: Add 1-2 Hoards Turn 11+: Use engine to play multiple Hoards and buy multiple Victory cards

Counter-Play

When Opposing Hoard: 1. Speed up the game - Rush Provinces before Hoard engine starts - Attack deck quality to prevent big turns - Drain key piles quickly

  1. Control Gold supply
  2. Gain Golds preemptively
  3. Use Gold-trashing attacks

  4. Block treasure-gaining capabilities

  5. Focus on alternative strategies

  6. Build stronger engines
  7. Use VP tokens instead
  8. Pursue alternate victory conditions

Advanced Techniques

  1. Multi-Hoard Timing
  2. Play all Hoards before buying Victory cards
  3. Consider order of Victory card purchases

  4. Track remaining Gold supply

  5. Supply Pile Management

  6. Monitor Gold pile depletion
  7. Consider Victory card pile ordering

  8. Watch for three-pile ending opportunities

  9. Endgame Optimization

  10. Calculate maximum Golds possible
  11. Plan Victory card purchases efficiently
  12. Consider resignation timing if blocked

Special Considerations

  1. Prosperity Games (with Colony/Platinum)
  2. Higher price points make Hoard timing crucial
  3. More time to set up multiple Hoards

  4. Consider skipping for Platinum economy

  5. Multiplayer Games

  6. More competition for Gold supply
  7. Longer games favor Hoard strategies

  8. More opportunities for pile depletion

  9. Kingdom Evaluation Consider Hoard's value based on:

  10. Available card draw
  11. Treasure support
  12. Victory card alternatives
  13. Game pace indicators

When to Skip Hoard

  1. Fast Kingdoms
  2. Strong trashing available
  3. Quick Province rush possible

  4. Limited deck cycling

  5. Better Alternatives

  6. Strong engine components at $6
  7. More efficient treasure options

  8. Better victory point mechanisms

  9. Poor Support

  10. Limited card draw
  11. Weak treasure synergy
  12. Anti-treasure attacks

Conclusion

Hoard is a powerful but situational card that requires careful timing and strategic planning. Its success depends heavily on: - Kingdom composition - Game pace - Player count - Available support cards

When properly supported, Hoard can create a strong economy while making Victory card purchases less detrimental to deck quality. However, it requires significant investment and setup time, making it vulnerable to faster strategies.

Key Takeaways: 1. Time Hoard purchases carefully 2. Consider multiple copies when possible 3. Plan Victory card purchases strategically 4. Watch for supporting cards and combinations 5. Be aware of counter-strategies and weaknesses

Understanding when and how to use Hoard effectively can give you a significant advantage in appropriate kingdoms, but knowing when to skip it is equally important for successful Dominion play.