[Dominion] Hireling Card Guide - Permanent +1 Card Every Turn
Rating of the Adventures card Hireling. Cost 6 Action-Duration. Permanent +1 card at start of every turn.
Hireling
Basic Info
- Type: Action-Duration
- Cost: 6
- Effect: At the start of your turn, +1 Card. Stays in play indefinitely.
Rating
A top-tier Adventures card. "Permanently +1 hand size" is a uniquely powerful effect. Once played, every turn from then on starts with hand size 6.
Biggest strength: "Effective deck size +1 without burning Action slots." Each turn's bigger hand increases shuffle frequency and accelerates engines or BM alike. Province-buy rate goes up 20-30% in BM.
Community consensus: among the strongest $6 cards, useful in both engine and BM. Tier S.
How to Play
Mid-game $6 turns: near-mandatory pick. Smithy-BM benefits from 2 Hirelings. Even pure engines often run 1-2.
The turn you play Hireling, the +1 has already triggered (5+1=6 effective hand). Future turns continue.
In hard-draw engines, 2 Hirelings = +2 hand, dramatically improving deck-cycling consistency.
Key Combos
Hireling + Smithy: 6 hand + Smithy = 9 cards accessed, easy Provinces.
Hireling + King's Court: Doubles "+1 card permanent" → +2 / +3 hand.
Hireling + Witch: Hit Witch every turn reliably, opponents suffer.
Hireling + Inn: Inn shuffles Hireling back for re-play.
Hireling + Bridge: BM variant with Hireling + Bridge + Silver/Gold sustains mid-speed engine.
Synergies
- Smithy / Council Room: draw boost.
- King's Court: doubling.
- Witch / cursers: stable firing.
- Inn: Hireling recycling.
- Bridge: BM variant.
- Chapel: thinning makes Hireling-draw easy.
Counters & Bad Matchups
- Heavy attacks (Minion): doesn't kill Hireling effect but reduces consistency.
- No-thinning decks: hard to draw Hireling, low effect.
- Short games: Hireling's long-term value doesn't materialize.
Advanced Tips
Hireling enters Duration after first play, not on gain. Must play once.
Second Hireling = +2 hand size, very strong; third is excess.
Gaining via top-deck triggers (Lost City / etc.) and immediately drawing Hireling means you can't play it right that turn.
Hireling + Teacher: Token boost stays permanent.
Effect timing: "Start of your next turn" — multiple plays in one turn stack effects across future turns.