Patrician

Basic Info

• Type: Action
• Cost: 2
• Effect: +1 Card / +1 Action / Reveal top of deck; if it costs $5+, put it in hand. Else leave it.

Rating

Top half of split pile (Patrician/Emporium). $2 cantrip with deck-peek and conditional draw. Real strength is enabling Emporium access.

Tier B-A standalone, A+ with Emporium consideration.

How to Play

Early: 3/2 split $2 slot. Pre-step for Emporium access.

Mid: Switch to Emporium ASAP once unlocked. Patrician copies don't engine-build well.

"Split-pile strategy": Buy out Patrician (5 copies) → Emporium unlocks. Race opponent.

Key Combos

Patrician + Emporium: Split-pile pairing.

Patrician + high-cost actions (Gold, Province, strong action): Hit rate up.

Patrician + Lab/Native Village: +1 chain.

Patrician + Smithy: Patrician hits $5+, Smithy draws.

Patrician + Inn: Reshuffling.

Patrician + Engineer: Engineer-gain Emporium.

Synergies

• Emporium: Split-pile pair.
• Gold/Platinum: Top-deck hits.
• Smithy/Lab: Draw chain.
• Highway/Bridge: Cost reduction.
• Engineer: Gain.

Counters & Bad Matchups

• $5- heavy decks: Top-peek whiffs.
• Heavy trasher: Patrician trashed early.
• Short games: Split-pile race incomplete.

Advanced Tips

True value: Emporium access. Split-pile top must clear before Emporium buyable.

Patrician + top-deck control (Wishing Well, Scout): Stack $5+ on deck, guaranteed hit.

Stack 2-3 Patricians early. More = redundant.

Mirror: Race the split pile.

3-pile: Patrician/Emporium pile flush ends game.

Hidden value: Deck-peek info even on miss.