Fool's Gold

Basic Info

Type: Treasure-Reaction
Cost: 2
Effect: If this is the first Fool's Gold played this turn, +$1, otherwise +$4. When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand to gain a Gold onto your deck.

Rating

The signature card of Hinterlands. At cost 2, two or more Fool's Gold played in one turn produce Gold-equivalent output (+$4 from the second on) without consuming Actions. The Reaction also converts opponents' late-game Province grabs into Gold for you.

Biggest strengths are the cheap $2 cost and exponential scaling: 1 = $1, 2 = $5, 3 = $9, 4 = $13. Province line reaches with just 3 Fool's Gold + a couple Coppers — way faster than typical Treasure curves.

Community consensus: top-tier Hinterlands card. Buy multiples whenever it's on the board. Tier S.

How to Play

Open Fool's Gold turn 1 or 2. Optimal $2 slot on 4/3 split. Even on $3 or $4 turns, often correct over Silver.

Early-mid: Buy a Fool's Gold every turn. Target 4-6 copies. Maximizes the chance of multiple Fool's Golds colliding per shuffle.

Mid: Four Fool's Gold in hand = +$13 in one turn — Province + Duchy if you have +Buy.

Late: When opponents gain Provinces, react one Fool's Gold into a Gold (onto deck, ready for the next turn).

When to Skip / Buy Few

Almost always buy multiples. Skip / lighten when:

Strong trasher + Curser combos enable a tight engine that doesn't want extra deck mass.
Heavy attacks (Witch + Cutpurse) erode the multi-FG-in-hand turns.
No-Province board (Colony games, +VP token races change priorities).

Otherwise: 4-6 copies is the sweet spot.

Key Combos

Fool's Gold + +Buy (Margrave, Spice Merchant, Market): Multiple gains per turn — accelerate FG accumulation enormously.

Fool's Gold + Border Village / Inn: Action engine with FG fueling money side. Note FG itself is a Treasure (no Action cost).

Fool's Gold + Big Draw (Council Room, Library, Courtyard): Drawing 5+ FGs in one turn = +$20 explosion.

Fool's Gold + Mine / Remodel / Develop: Convert FG into Gold or other 5-cost cards in late game.

Fool's Gold + Mining Village / Embassy: Action support and discard-shaping for FG-heavy turns.

Fool's Gold + Stables: FG counts as Treasure to discard for +3 Cards / +1 Action.

Synergies

Border Village: Action village, lets terminal cards coexist with FG.
Spice Merchant: +1 Buy + trash Treasure (NOT Fool's Gold ideally — careful).
Margrave: +1 Buy + handsize attack.
Inn: +Action support + deck-shuffle trick.
Council Room (Base): +4 draw + 1 buy.
Mining Village: Trash for +Coin / +Action.
Remodel/Expand: Convert FG to Gold or 5-cost engine pieces late.

Counters & Bad Matchups

Strong trashers (Chapel, Masquerade): Risk accidentally trashing FG; engine direction conflicts with bulk-money plan.
Strong attacks (Militia, Torturer): Hand-size erosion reduces multi-FG turns.
Engine-required boards: FG plan loses to a faster pure-engine path on those.
Short games (3-pile rush boards): No time to accumulate FGs.

Advanced Tips

Multiple-collision math: Aim for 4+ FGs to maximize shuffle collisions. Best turn = 5+ FGs in hand at once.

Reaction timing: Trash FG only when opponent gains a Province AND you don't expect that FG to fire as +$4 next turn yourself. Generally fire reactions when opponents take the 6th+ Province (race-ending range).

Fool's Gold-BM: Silver / FG → FG / FG → FG / Silver → Gold → Province. One of the fastest BM variants in Dominion. Often Province-line by turn 6-7.

Cap at ~6 copies — beyond that, dead-card risk in hand exceeds marginal +$4.

Duchy push: With early FG money flow, secure 3-4 Duchies before the last Provinces. 3-pile endgames favor FG decks.

Reaction psychology: When opponents see your FG count, they may delay the final Province grab to avoid handing you a Gold. Use that to push the pile yourself.

Mirror: In FG mirrors, the player with +1 Buy or better draw wins. Prioritize Spice Merchant / Border Village pickups in FG mirrors.

Province-rush mode: With 4-5 FGs by turn 7, end the game on turn 9-10 by buying Province / Province / Duchy on consecutive double-FG turns.