Complete Guide to Attack Cards & Counters

What Are Attack Cards?

In Dominion, Attack cards are cards that, when played, impose a negative effect on all other players. From the base set's Militia and Witch to dozens of Attack cards spread across expansion sets, these cards profoundly shape how a game unfolds.

The impact of Attack cards on the game is enormous. When a Curse-injection Attack is in the supply, all players must divert attention to the race for Curses; when hand-disruption Attacks are played, stable card-drawing is shattered each turn. Ignoring Attacks in favor of pure engine-building is, in many situations, a fatal strategic error.

That said, over-allocating resources to counters is equally dangerous. Stockpiling defensive cards collapses your deck's core concept and costs you ground in the victory-point race. Understanding Attack threats precisely and responding with the minimum necessary countermeasures — this is the judgment skill that separates advanced Dominion players.

Types of Attacks

Dominion's Attacks fall into four broad categories.

Category	Representative Cards	Effect Overview	Threat Level
Curse injection	Witch, Sea Witch, Hag	Add Curses (-1 VP each) to opponents' decks	★★★★★
Hand disruption	Militia, Torturer, Thief	Reduce hand size or force discards	★★★★
Top-deck disruption	Spy, Maidservant	Manipulate or trash opponents' top cards	★★★
Trash attacks	Bandit, Thief, Knights	Trash opponents' Treasures or key cards	★★★★

Because each category requires a different counter-strategy, develop the habit of checking which Attacks are present in the supply at game start and deciding whether to adopt countermeasure cards.

Curse-Type Attacks (Highest Priority Category)

Witch: Effect and Impact

Witch is a cost-5 Action card with the effect "+2 Cards; each other player gains a Curse." It is deceptively simple yet devastatingly effective.

The negative consequences of Curse injection:

Victory point erosion: each Curse is -1 VP. In a 4-player game, if all 10 Curses run out, a single player could absorb up to 5 Curses — a potentially game-losing -5 points
Deck density loss: Curses are dead cards. Every Curse added to a deck lowers the probability of drawing impactful cards and degrades overall deck performance
Psychological pressure: being hit by Curses every turn changes purchasing behavior. Attention diverted toward defense delays investment in essential cards

Witch is the textbook example of a card where going first is a massive advantage. Curses pushed early don't disappear. If Witch is in the supply, strongly consider taking one as the highest priority buy.

Sea Witch and Hag

Multiple expansion sets contain Witch-family Attacks. Seaside's Sea Witch is a cost-5 Duration card whose effect persists across turns, making it especially powerful. Dark Ages' Hag disrupts opponents' buy phases while injecting Curses. The same countermeasures that work against Witch apply here.

Counters for Curse-Type Attacks

Counter 1: Moat

Moat is a cost-2 Action card. In addition to "+2 Cards," it has a Reaction ability: "When another player plays an Attack card, you may first reveal this from your hand, to be unaffected by it."

Moat's strength is its low cost. Purchasable for just 2 coins, it's easy to grab early and its draw effect ensures it's never completely dead. However, there is one critical weakness — Moat only works when it is in hand. If you don't draw Moat when you need it, the Attack goes through. And in turns when Moat is in hand, you're already safe but lose the draw benefit of simply playing it earlier.

Counter 2: Lighthouse

Seaside's Lighthouse is a cost-2 Duration card: "Now and at the start of your next turn: +1 Coin. While this is in play, when another player plays an Attack card, you are unaffected by it."

The critical difference from Moat: you only need to play Lighthouse on your previous turn, and it protects you for the entire following turn — no need to have it in hand. Its reliability is categorically superior.

The Dominion strategy community has settled on "Counter priority: Lighthouse > Moat" as a baseline evaluation. With Lighthouse in play, Attack protection is guaranteed whenever your turn comes around. Running two Lighthouses in rotation effectively neutralizes nearly every Attack indefinitely.

The maxim: "Taking Witch first is the best counter"

Rather than stacking reactive counters, grabbing Witch for yourself before the opponent is the most effective defense. The supply has 10 Witches (in a 4-player game), but the first few define the game. By getting there first, you pay zero defense cost while enjoying the attacker's full upside.

Hand Disruption (Militia-Type Attacks)

Militia: Effect and Impact

Militia is a cost-4 Action: "+2 Coins; each other player discards down to 3 cards in hand." Being forced from 5 cards to 3 drastically limits the range of viable plays on a turn.

Planned combo sequences often collapse under Militia. A Village-Smithy chain intended to draw through the deck may simply fail with only 3 cards. Being forced to discard multiple Treasures reduces purchasing power.

Counter Cards for Militia

Library

Library is a cost-5 Action that lets you draw cards until you have 7 in hand (with the option to set aside Action cards drawn along the way). Playing Library from a 3-card hand refills to 7, completely negating Militia's disruption and leaving you with more cards than you would normally have.

Note that Library itself is a terminal Action costing 5, so managing it within a deck structure requires care.

Warehouse

Warehouse is a cost-3 Action: "+3 Cards, +1 Action; then discard 3 cards from your hand." Even from a 3-card hand after Militia, playing Warehouse draws 3 more and lets you selectively discard the weakest 3. Its low cost and +1 Action make it versatile. Warehouse is cited as a classic "soft counter" to Militia — a partial but highly practical answer — across the Dominion strategy community.

Draw engine: Village + Smithy

The most fundamental answer to hand disruption is building a deck where any 3 cards that remain after Militia are still strong. If a Village survives the discard, further actions remain available; if three high-value Treasures survive, 7-9 coin purchasing power is preserved.

Tips for playing 3-card hands effectively

Prioritize keeping high-cost Treasures (Silver, Gold)
If a Village card remains, chain further actions from it
Discard the 3 weakest cards: Estates, Curses, Coppers
Even from 3 cards, aim for 1 productive buy plus 1 useful Action

Trash Attacks

Bandit: Effect

Bandit is a cost-5 Action: "Gain a Gold. Each other player reveals the top 2 cards of their deck, trashes a revealed Treasure other than Copper, and discards the rest." It forces opponents to lose their Silver and Gold — the foundation of most purchasing power.

The true danger of trash attacks is permanence. Hand disruption can be recovered from next turn; trash is irreversible. In the late game, having Gold trashed can make it impossible to reliably hit 8 coins for Province buys.

Thief: Trash and Steal

Thief (cost 4) reveals the top 2 cards of each opponent's deck, optionally trashes a Treasure found, and may then take the trashed card. Compared to Bandit, the effect is more variable, but the double benefit of weakening opponents while strengthening your own deck is a genuine threat.

Counters for Trash Attacks

Use important Treasures before they can be trashed: When Gold is in hand, spend it as a Treasure before receiving a trash Attack. Bandit only targets the top 2 cards of the deck — already-played Treasures are safe
Diversify your Treasures: Owning multiple Golds rather than a single one reduces the risk of one Bandit play crippling your entire deck
Use Trash-resistant Treasures: Certain Treasure cards have substitute effects even when trashed, providing some insulation against Bandit
Win with speed: Spending turns on defense against Bandit may simply cost more than the Bandit costs you; racing to Provinces ahead of the opponent is often the better call

Core Principles for Countering Attacks

You don't need to buy a lot of Moats

Buying 3 or more Moats in response to Attacks is overreaction. Because Moat only works when drawn into hand, having duplicates in hand simultaneously provides no additional benefit. One to two Moats is the right investment for defensive purposes; more wastes precious deck slots.

1-2 counter cards aligned with your deck style is enough

The ideal form of Attack defense is adopting the minimum number of counter cards that don't compromise your deck's direction.

In supplies filled with Seaside cards, Lighthouse is the natural choice
When targeting a fast draw engine, Library integrates organically
A Treasure-heavy big-money deck often needs nothing more than one Warehouse as a soft counter
When Curse defense is top priority, consider taking Witch for yourself before worrying about reactive counters

Sometimes ignoring Attacks and winning with raw speed is correct

At a high-level of play, "ignore the Attack" is a legitimate and common decision. Even with Militia hitting you every turn, a deck that cycles faster than the opponent's can still win. Even absorbing all 10 Curses (-10 VP), the 48 points from 8 Provinces more than compensates.

The skill to develop is weighing the real cost of an Attack against the cost of defending it, and recognizing when "ignore it and outpace them" is the rational choice.

Summary: Attack Priority and Counter Selection

Priority of actions when you spot an Attack

Spot a Curse-injection Attack (Witch, etc.): First assess whether you can take it yourself. If not, secure one Lighthouse or Moat
Spot Militia: Evaluate whether your draw structure handles 3-card hands. Consider one Library or Warehouse
Spot Bandit or Thief: Manage late-game Gold carefully. Racing with speed and ignoring it is also viable
Multiple Attacks in supply: Evaluate whether running two Lighthouses neutralizes all of them simultaneously

Counter Card Selection Chart

Attack Type	Top Counter	Backup	Can Ignore If
Witch (Curse injection)	Take Witch yourself	Lighthouse x2 > Moat x1	Fast trash can remove Curses
Militia (hand disruption)	Library or Warehouse	Village + draw engine	Treasure-heavy 3-card hands are sufficient
Bandit (Treasure trash)	Spend key Treasures proactively	Spread Treasures across multiples	Racing to Provinces wins first
Spy (top-deck manipulation)	Generally ignore	Trash to remove chaff	Almost always safe to ignore

Attack cards are a genuine threat, but precise understanding plus minimal, targeted counters is fully sufficient. Excessive defense risks weakening your own deck. Always weigh the real harm from the Attack against the cost of responding, and calibrate your counter investment accordingly.