Should I buy Gold or Hoard?

Question

Hoard is a treasure worth 2 that also reads:

While this is in play, when you buy a Victory card, gain a Gold.

It costs the same as a Gold (i.e. 6) and while it's not immediately worth as much as a Gold, it obviously generates Golds. I get the impression that Hoard is suited to being bought under specific conditions and at specific points in a game.

What should I consider when choosing between Gold and Hoard?

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 13 '12 at 20:10

One common mistake people make is picking up a Hoard right away, and then buying a Duchy (or even Estate) to get the extra Gold. When you do that, you have added 3 cards to your deck, for a total of $5 money. That's less money-per-card than just a Silver gives you! Each time you buy a Duchy and get a Gold, you're adding 2 cards for $3 money... again, worse than Silver.

But Hoard certainly has it's place. If there are other useful Victory Cards, like Island or Tunnel or Nobles, then Hoard becomes great. Also, if you think that it's likely that a Gold would give you $9 to spend on the turn you see it, then Hoard will probably be better, because then you'll have $8 to spend, which is still enough for a Province.

To figure out how likely it is that you'll be able to get a Province, it really depends on the rest of your deck. If you have lots of other money, or you have a good engine that can draw a lot of cards, then it's a pretty safe bet usually that buying Hoard over Gold won't cost you that Province. A general rule of thumb that I personally follow on most boards is to buy a Gold first, and then Hoards after that.

Here's a good article on Hoard strategy: http://dominionstrategy.com/2010/12/02/prosperity-hoard/

Duke and Silk Road are also excellent alternate victory cards when Hoard is available. — Gregor Thomas, Nov 14 '12 at 22:51
The first part of your answer seems to assume that Hoard is only being used once. Once you have the Hoard, you're adding two cards (or more because Hoards can be used together for multiple Golds per Victory) for the cost of a Victory card. For that matter, any Action/Victory or Treasure/Victory stacks well with Hoard. — Powerlord, Nov 15 '12 at 19:03

score 7 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 13 '12 at 17:05

Buy hoard when you plan to buy victory cards early or often. Hoard is a great card to pick up if there are victory cards in the kingdom cards that interest you.

Don't buy it when you think the game will end with you just having your share of provinces/colonies. These are expensive, meaning you will need the extra $1 from the gold. also, you will likely buy these too late in the game to make use of the extra gold in your deck.

score 2 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 15 '12 at 20:55

The usefulness of Hoard depends on a few things:

If there are any dual-type Victory cards (Great Hall, Nobles, Harem, Island, Tunnel, etc...) in play, buy those with Hoard.
Are there any cards that let you trash cards in play? If so, buy Estates and Duchies, then trash them later. This works even better if you have multiple buys, as Horde applies to every Buy while it's in play. Bishop (2 VP for trashing Estates, 3 VP for trashing Duchies) or Expand are the best two trashing cards for this strategy, but things like Remodel work almost as well.
Are there any special Victory cards in play (Gardens, Silk Road, Feodum)? Buying those with the Hoard works fairly well, although this works better in late game.
Are there any cards that let you draw multiple cards? If you can gain enough other money, you can buy Provinces and Colonies with your Hoard(s) in play.

As an example of #2, if you have 2 Hoards and a card that gives you a second Buy, buying two Estates gives you 4 Golds.

In end game, if you have a lot of money, adding a Hoard can't hurt as every time you buy a Province/Colony with the Hoard out, you add another money card to help offset the additional Victory card in your deck.

Should I buy Gold or Hoard?

3 Answers3