It won’t be long until avid Dominion players around the world get what they’ve been waiting for: the official release of Dominion Dark Ages. Due out at the end of August 2012, this release is a long overdue mega expansion. Where previous sets generally consisted of 300 cards (for full sets) or 150 cards (for small sets). Dark Ages is gigantic, comparatively. Consisting of 500 cards, the expansion doesn’t even include the common Treasure or Victory cards. That means all the cards contribute to the actual game.
In fact, Donald X. Vaccarino, the game’s designer, has already previewed numerous cards. The early fifteen consist of three that cost 0 Coins (Fool, Ruined Market, Loot), four that cost 1 Coin (Cottage, Necropolis, Overgrown Estate, Poor House), two that cost 2 Coins (Hermit, Squire), one costing 3 coins (Sage), two costing 4 Coins (Feodum, Rats), and three costing 5 Coins (Cultist, Graverobber, Plunder).
But the preview card that really grabs the attention, both thematically and strategically, is the Rats card. In fact, Donald himself has named it his favorite card in the entire game. Before addressing some initial strategic considerations, consider the thematic nature of the card.
Many cards have themed elements to enhance their gameplay and highlight the interactions between the cards. This is particularly true within expansions. Take Dominion Seaside, for example. Most of the cards have a nautical theme, and in-game interactions reflect what would happen in real life (ie ambassadors often bring “gifts”). Dark Ages is no exception to this Dominion rule. And, one of the most unique theme cards is the Rats card.
The rules for Rats are as follows: +1 Card, +1 Action. gain in rats. Remove a non-Rat card from your hand (or reveal a hand from all Rats). When you throw this away, +1 Card.
Oh! The rules fit perfectly with the theme. If you have a rat in real life, it doesn’t take long before you have an infestation. Let a little Rats card into your hand, and before long, you could be overrun by them. To make matters worse, the Rat stack in Dominion Dark Ages breaks convention to help with this issue. A Rat stack has twenty cards in the Supply instead of just 10!
So what are the implications of the strategy?
To avoid being invaded by rats, you must have strong smashers. The 4 Coin cost of the Rat cards aids their use. So Redo and Upgrade, if they’re on the board, make taking those first Rats a viable option. In fact, other strong trashers like Forge can also come in handy. Forge two 4 Coin Rat cards in an 8 Coin Province! But, if your opponent has foolishly allowed a rat infestation in his deck, be careful about playing a bishop. That would serve him well as a slayer, especially since Rats gives +1 Card to shatter.
But, if you don’t have strong destruction cards in play with the rats, they could quickly equal curses (or even worse, since they can multiply). Therefore, take stock of the available cards on any board where there are Rats before buying a single Rat. If there aren’t many good to great litters, don’t even buy a Rat. You may regret the day you do it!