[Dominion] Smugglers Card Guide - Copy Opponent's Gain
Rating of the Seaside card Smugglers. Cost 3 Action. Gain a copy of a card costing up to $6 the player to your right gained on their last turn.
Smugglers
Basic Info
- Type: Action
- Cost: 3
- Effect: Gain a copy of a card costing up to $6 that the player to your right gained on their last turn.
Rating
Seaside's unique gainer. Copies what your right neighbor gained last turn (up to $6). Gold/Province ($6/$8) excluded but $5 staples (Council Room, Market, Smithy, Treasury) are fair game.
Defining trait: imitates opponent's gain. $3 → $5 card = effectively +$2 of gaining value. But purely reactive — only useful turn after right gains $5.
Tier B. Strong on $5-rich boards, weaker otherwise. Terminal (no +Action).
How to Play
Early: $3 buy candidate. Watch right's tempo.
Mid: When right grabs a $5, your next turn = copy it.
Avoid terminal collision: needs villages to chain.
Copy Target Priority
Up to $6:
- Council Room / Smithy / Market (draw / cantrip).
- Treasury / Witch (action power).
- Duchy / Island / Artisan (5 VP/value).
- Silver/Copper rarely worth.
Key Combos
Smugglers + Witch board: Curse-spam imitation.
Smugglers + Council Room board: Draw amp.
Smugglers + King's Court: KC+Smugglers = 3 copies.
Smugglers + Throne Room: 2 copies.
Smugglers + Village: Terminal split.
Smugglers + Fishing Village: Duration + Smugglers.
Smugglers + Island: 5-VP Island copy strategy.
Synergies
- King's Court: Triple gain.
- Throne Room: Doubles.
- Village / Fishing Village: Terminal split.
- Council Room board: Draw.
- Smithy board: Draw.
- Market board: Universal.
- Witch board: Curse-spam.
- Duchy: 5-VP gain.
- Island: 5-VP + thinning.
- Masquerade: Thin + gain.
Counters & Bad Matchups
- Weak right opponent: Copies Silver/Copper only.
- $5-poor boards: Few targets.
- Pure BM: Limited targets.
- Heavy attacks: Smugglers turn disrupted.
- Short games: Waiting for right wastes tempo.
- Final turn: Both ending → no targets.
Advanced Tips
"Right-neighbor scouting": Profile right's strategy. Engine = strong copies; BM = poor copies.
KC + Smugglers: KC + Smugglers 3x = 3 copies of same card. $5 card x3 = +$15 equivalent.
Smugglers mirror: Copy-the-copy chains.
3-pile-out: Smugglers 10 + 2 piles.
"Smugglers vs Workshop": Workshop (Base, $3, gain up to $4) vs Smugglers ($3, copy right's $6). Workshop = guaranteed; Smugglers = reactive. $5-rich = Smugglers.
Duke strategy: Copy Duchy via Smugglers, 5-VP guaranteed.
Smugglers buying: 1-2 copies, not over-stacked.
VP value: 0 VP plain Action. Don't overbuy late.