Shanty Town

Basic Info

• Type: Action
• Cost: 3
• Effect: +2 Actions. Reveal your hand. If no Action cards in hand, +2 Cards.

Rating

Intrigue's conditional cantrip-village. +2 Actions guaranteed; +2 Cards conditional on "no Actions in hand." Cost-3 with both village and draw potential.

Defining trait: when conditions met, cost-3 cantrip-village + Smithy-grade draw.

Tier B+ to A. Engine-staple village. Condition-management is key but yields Festival-grade output.

How to Play

Early: $3 buy. Competing with Village ($3) and Silver ($3).

Mid: Play other Actions first, then Shanty Town for +2 Actions + +2 Cards.

End: Draw source or +2 Actions for other cards.

Condition-Triggering Tactics

"No Actions in hand" setup:

1. Order: Use other Actions first, Shanty Town last.
2. Action-cluster turn: Shanty Town at the end.
3. Reveal moment: Hand at reveal time must have NO Actions.

Example: hand = Village + Shanty Town + Copper + Copper + Estate. Village → (use any in-hand Actions) → Shanty Town with hand lacking Actions → +2 Cards.

Key Combos

Shanty Town + Torturer: Top village support for Torturer chain. +2 Actions for chain, conditional +2 Cards.

Shanty Town + Minion: Chain support.

Shanty Town + Conspirator: Hits 3-action threshold.

Shanty Town + Smithy: Smithy terminal covered.

Shanty Town + Market: Cantrip + buy + Action support.

Shanty Town + Bridge: Bridge-engine village.

Shanty Town + King's Court (Prosperity): KC + ST = +6 Actions + conditional +6 Cards.

Shanty Town + Throne Room: TR + ST = +4 Actions + conditional +4 Cards.

Synergies

• Torturer: Chain village.
• Minion: Chain.
• Conspirator: Action count.
• Smithy: Terminal complement.
• Market: Universal.
• Bridge: Megaturn.
• King's Court: Triples.
• Throne Room: Doubles.
• Masquerade: Thin + draw.
• Duke: $5 frequency.

Counters & Bad Matchups

• Action-dense decks: Actions always in hand, +2 Cards condition fails.
• No thinning: Action-dense risk.
• Militia hand-strip: Action retention forces no-trigger.
• Heavy terminals: Shanty Town is also terminal.
• Pure BM: Silver suffices.

Advanced Tips

Order matters: Actions → ... → Shanty Town (last) triggers condition.

Reveal-moment check: Hand at reveal must have no Actions.

Multi-stack: 1st as plain village, 2nd+ for condition-triggered explosion.

KC + Shanty Town: 1 KC plays ST 3x = +6 Actions + conditional +6 Cards. Super-firepower turn.

Duke strategy: Shanty Town for $5 frequency → Duchy/Duke.

"Shanty Town vs. Village": Village = +1 Card / +2 Actions unconditional. Shanty Town = conditional +2 Cards / +2 Actions. Trigger met = ST edge.

3-pile-out: Shanty Town 10 + Village 10 + Estate 8.

"With Action in hand": +2 Actions only. Village function.