Border Guard

Basic Info

Type: Action
Cost: 2
Effect: +1 Action / Look at the top 2 cards of your deck. Put one into your hand and discard the other. If you revealed an Action, you may gain a Lantern or Horn.

Rating

The strongest cantrip at cost 2. +1 Action keeps it free, "look 2 keep 1" is powerful filtering equivalent to deck-thinning. Plus an Heirloom (Lantern or Horn) gain when you reveal an Action.

Biggest strength: filter + gain dual function. Trash dead cards (Estates / Coppers) by discarding, keep useful ones. Effectively close to draw. At cost 2, the efficiency is exceptional.

Heirloom gain is the killer feature. Lantern ($3 Treasure, +$1) or Horn ($5 Treasure, +1 Buy, trash to gain a Border Guard) — Horn's cycle is potent.

Overall A tier. Top contender at the cost-2 slot, prime pick on 3-2 / 2-3 splits.

How to Play

Auto-buy at 2 coins early. Behind Chapel, ahead of most others.

Mid-game: 2-3 copies for every-turn filtering. Province acceleration.

Heirloom choice: engine = Horn (+1 Buy, cycling); pure economy = Lantern (+$1).

Heirloom Choice

The signature Heirloom decision:

Lantern: cost $3 Treasure, +$1. Pure economy boost, Big Money fit.
Horn: cost $5 Treasure, +1 Buy. When trashed, gain a Border Guard (infinite cycle). Engine fit.

Decide based on board: thinning-light = Lantern, engine-buildable = Horn.

Key Combos

Border Guard + Smithy: Filter to find Smithy reliably.

Border Guard + Witch / Old Witch: Find Witch fast for stable Curse-spreading.

Border Guard + Chapel: Filter for early Chapel hit.

Border Guard + Horn: Trash Horn → gain Border Guard, repeat.

Border Guard + City Gates: +1 hand size raises hit rate.

Border Guard + Throne Room: TR + Border Guard = +2 Actions, look 4 keep 2, gain 2 Heirlooms.

Synergies

Smithy / Council Room: Filter for terminal-draw.
Witch / Curser: Find attacker reliably.
Chapel: Thinning acceleration.
Horn (own Heirloom): Permanent cycle.
City Gates Project: +1 hand size.
Throne Room: Doubled filter / gain.
Remodel / Improve: Upgrade Border Guard later.

Counters & Bad Matchups

Action-light boards: No Action revealed = no Heirloom.
Pure Big Money: Filter strong, but Heirlooms underutilized.
Terminal-collision: Cantrip self, but other cards collide.
Quick-finish: Long-term Heirloom value lost.

Advanced Tips

Multiple copies: 2-3 reach 30% deck saturation; filter efficiency explodes.

Heirloom timing: gain Horn early → use +1 Buy → trash Horn for Border Guard → repeat.

Discard choice: dead cards (Estates / Curses) → instant discard; Coppers situational; useful cards → hand.

Mix Lantern and Horn: Horn-trash spawns more Border Guards, each can choose its own Heirloom. Mixed builds optimal.