Dominion: Alchemy - Tips & Strategies

Possession can be a terrible card to fight against. If you’re opponents are going for it, there are a few things you can try to do to sabotage them while trying to still maintain a decent deck:

– Golem + possession: If you get this pair in your deck, golem is a great card, and your opponents will be wary of playing it because if they pull out your possession cards, they’re forced to play it and YOU control the additional possession turn, not them.
– Don’t stack your deck too much: There are many alchemy cards that let you stack your deck, but if you’re finding yourself possessed frequently, avoid stacking the deck, or stack it poorly. You should vary this based on how often you’re possessed. If it seems it’s every turn, stack your deck to have a crappy hand so that your opponent’s possession doesn’t get them anything, and it will also deplete five useless cards in your deck. Also, not stacking the deck will prevent your opponent from having a killer hand on what should be your turn, and then refusing to stack the deck for you afterwards.
– Try to end the game early: It takes time to get possession. If you’re opponents are going for it, they probably aren’t buying VPs yet. If there are +buy and +coin actions available, it might be worthwhile to deplete three piles quickly, and pick up enough estates/duchy cards for a quick win.

If you like to play with a lot of actions and you want to avoid all the strategy tips that say don’t go action heavy, Golem is your card. Get 2 or 3 Golems throughout the game.

1. Golems will help you cycle through your deck much faster. This helps late game and if there are a lot of curses thrown out there.

2. Attack cards that limit your hand will be less potent with the use of a Golem.

3. If there are a few expensive kingdom cards that are terminal actions, this card will help you play them very effectively.

4. Don’t try to find cards that combo off of each other. Just get effective cards.

5. This card really makes Village lose more steam.

Scrying Pool is the greater Spy . Why do it mundanely when you could do it with Magical Science!?

Scrying pool costs 2 coin and a potion. This makes it a stronger 3rd or 4th turn buy. There is less worry of getting stuck with a hand where you can not utilize that Potion that you pick up at the beginning.

1. Get rid of pesky cards at the top of your opponents decks.

2. Get rid of a card from the top of your deck that has no benefit.

3. Guarantee a good treasure card.

4. Get a bunch of action cards and make effective chains.

These things are all possible with a couple of Scrying Pools. If there are a bunch of kingdom cards that can be purchased that give +1 or +2 Action as well as another benefit, this card can be the turning point.

It is just flat out fun to flip through the cards as fast as this card lets you do.

The Alchemy rulebook suggests that you use 3-5 cards from Alchemy or none at all, but it’s just a suggestion and not a very good one! Donald X. put effort into making each card with a Potion in its cost worth buying even if it’s the only card that makes potions relevant. If the supply is full of cards that require potions you’ll get tired of them before long.