Tactician

Basic Info

Type: Action-Duration
Cost: 5
Effect: If you have at least one card in hand: Discard your hand, and at the start of your next turn, +5 Cards / +1 Action / +1 Buy.

Rating

One of Seaside's most explosive cards. Discard hand → next turn +5 Cards / +1 Action / +1 Buy = 10+ card hand. Province double-buy and massive engines hinge on it.

Defining trait: "10-card hand next turn". Normal 5 + Tactician 5 = 10. Add villages / draw = 14-15. Province x2 in one turn realistic.

Tier S. Top support card. But terminal + duration → village support mandatory.

How to Play

Early: $5 buy candidate. First Tactician harder to cycle.

Mid: Tactician + village + draw = 10-card every-other-turn.

End: Tactician + Province x2 final turn.

"Cards in Hand" Requirement

Critical:

Empty hand = no effect (no discard, no next-turn bonus).
Always have ≥ 1 card in hand when playing.
Play Tactician last (after using other cards).

Key Combos

Tactician + Village: Terminal split + 10-card hand.

Tactician + Fishing Village: Duration + Tactician.

Tactician + Smithy / Council Room: 14-15 card hand.

Tactician + King's Court: KC + Tactician = next-turn +15 / +3 / +3 Buy. Game-warping.

Tactician + Throne Room: TR + Tactician = next-turn +10 / +2 / +2.

Tactician + Bridge: Cost reduction + huge hand.

Tactician + Highway: Cost reduction + huge hand + cantrip.

Synergies

King's Court: Triple Tactician, +15 cards next turn.
Throne Room: Doubles, +10 cards.
Village / Fishing Village / Native Village: Terminal split.
Smithy / Council Room: Draw amp.
Bridge (Intrigue): Cost reduce + 10-card → multi-Province.
Highway (Hinterlands): Cost reduce + 10-card.
Chapel: Thinning.
Masquerade: Thin + draw + Tactician.
Lighthouse: Defense.
Duke: $5 frequency support.

Counters & Bad Matchups

Heavy attacks (Torturer / Witch): Off-turn-handsize disrupted.
Short games: Engine forms too late.
Pure BM: Terminal + duration in the way.
Single-village board: Hard to split.
Pure-draw engines: Already drawing deck.
Already-thin engines: Tactician redundant.

Advanced Tips

"Every-other-turn strategy": Tactician turn = nothing. Next turn = Province x2. Net: 1 Province per turn equivalent.

"Tactician's first hand": Have Tactician + Treasures in hand. Spend Treasures, then play Tactician last.

KC + Tactician: KC + Tactician 3x = next-turn +15 cards / +3 actions / +3 Buys. Game-ending burst.

3-pile-out: Tactician 10 + 2 piles.

"Tactician vs Council Room": Council Room (Base, $5, +4 Cards / +1 Buy) vs Tactician ($5, discard → next-turn 10+). Council Room = single-turn draw, Tactician = every-other-turn burst. Pure-draw = Council Room; alt-turn strategy = Tactician.

Tactician mirror: Both off-turn burst. Province race.

Tactician cap: 1-2 sufficient. 3+ is overkill.

Duke strategy: Tactician = mass-Duchy buys.

VP value: 0 VP plain Action. Don't overbuy late.