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Dominion Deck Ratio Calculator for Engine Balance

Dominion Deck Ratio Calculator

Measure deck cycling, terminal action pressure, village support, treasure density, draw strength, and victory-card drag for a live Dominion deck.

🎲Real Dominion Presets

🃏Deck Inputs

Used as a benchmark, not a rules modifier.
More players usually means fewer full shuffles before the end.
Helps rate whether your deck is cycling quickly enough.
Include hand, draw pile, discard, tavern mat returns, and set-aside cards you expect back.
Actions that do not give at least +1 action.
Cards giving +2 actions or better, including reliable virtual village effects.
Cards with +1 action that are not counted as cantrips.
Cards that replace both action and card, such as Laboratory-like smoothers when appropriate.
Treasures plus non-action payload that mainly produces buying power.
Green cards currently in the deck.
Count cards that usually reduce a five-card hand.
Approximate extra cards drawn beyond normal five-card turns before the next shuffle.
Workshop, Remodel, +Buy, or other reliable deck growth pressure.
Thinning improves shuffle quality and ratio tolerance.
Deck balance score
--
ratio quality
Terminal collision risk
--
dead actions in hand
Expected cycle length
--
turns per full pass
Economy density
--
treasure and payload share

Ratio Breakdown

Current Deck Ratio Grid

-- Action Share
-- Village Cover
-- Green Drag
-- Hand Quality

💡Deck Ratio Tips

Terminal planning: a village engine usually wants roughly one reliable village for every one to two terminal actions. If the village cover is below 0.60, expect strong hands to fizzle unless your terminals are mostly one-shot or self-trashing.
Green timing: victory cards are safest when the deck already cycles quickly. If green drag passes 25% before you have draw or payload, the next shuffle often becomes weaker than the current one.

📊Archetype Comparison Grid

Big Money

Low action share, high treasure density, slower shuffle control, and high tolerance for simple five-card hands.

Engine

Needs village cover, repeatable draw, and enough payload that large hands convert into Provinces or pile pressure.

Slog

Junk and green cards dominate hand quality; draw and trashing become more valuable than raw treasure count.

Rush

Small decks can accept ugly ratios when the game ends before repeated bad shuffles matter.

📘Reference Tables

Deck plan Action target Treasure target Victory drag target Cycle target
Base Big Money 0% to 10% 45% to 65% Under 30% 4 to 6 turns
Village-draw engine 30% to 50% 25% to 40% Under 22% 2 to 4 turns
Junked slog 20% to 40% 25% to 45% Under 35% 5 to 8 turns
Gardens or pile rush 5% to 20% 20% to 35% Can exceed 35% Game-end driven
Ratio check Strong range Warning range Problem sign Best fix
Village cover 1.00 or more 0.60 to 0.99 Terminals collide Add village or cut terminals
Terminal share Under 18% 18% to 28% Dead action hands Add draw, village, or cantrips
Green and junk Under 20% 20% to 35% Weak five-card turns Trash, draw, or end game
Treasure density 30% to 45% Below 25% Draws do not score Add payload or +Buy
Preset scenario Typical deck size Key pressure Ratio aim Cycle note
Chapel thin deck 12 to 18 cards Payload timing High economy density Fast shuffle after trashing
Village Smithy 22 to 32 cards Terminal density Villages near terminals Draw must find villages
Witch slog 28 to 45 cards Curses and dead cards Draw offsets junk Shuffle quality varies
Gardens rush 35 to 55 cards Deck size value Accepts lower quality End before engine matters
Dominion component Count in hand math Ratio effect Calculator treatment Practical read
Terminal action May need the one action Raises collision risk Compares against villages Strong but fragile
Village action Adds action capacity Lowers collision risk Builds coverage score Enables engines
Cantrip Replaces card and action Improves smoothness Boosts quality modestly Stabilizes hands
Victory or junk Consumes hand slots Slows cycling and payload Creates drag penalty Buy late or draw more

A Dominion deck consist of a specific ratio of action cards, treasure cards, and green cards. The ratio of these three types of cards within a Dominion deck will determines whether the deck will function efficient or if it will fail to produce the desired results from the game of Dominion. If there are to many action cards within a Dominion deck that do not produce any additional actions, players can encounter a collision risk.

A collision risk occur when a player draws a single action card for playing another card that does not produce any additional actions. Cards like village provide additional actions for players, but villages alone will not prevent a player from encountering a collision risk unless the player purchase them during the same shuffle window as the terminal cards. The shuffle window is the time during which a player draws certain cards, and the length of those shuffles is determined by the total numbers of cards within a player’s deck.

How to Balance Your Dominion Deck

The treasure density within a Dominion deck is the number of treasure cards within that deck. The treasure density for a players deck must be balanced such that the player can purchase cards yet does not draw too many treasure cards. If there is too little treasure densities, the player will not have enough money to purchase the needed cards.

However, if there is too much treasure density, the player will draw treasure cards instead of the action cards require to play additional cards. The calculator determine the treasure density of a players deck in comparison to the player’s chosen archetype. Additionally, the calculator also determines the treasure density of a player’s deck so that the player is aware whether the player’s deck is constructed as a big-money deck or an engine deck.

An engine deck is a type of deck that requires a fast cycle length to be efficient within the game of Dominion. The cycle length is the number of turns that are required to shuffle the entire deck of Dominion cards and draw the same cards. Within a Dominion deck are green cards and junk cards, which do not provide any actions or treasure cards to the player.

These types of cards will slow the player’s game due to the fact that these cards take up slot within the player’s hand. Thus, it takes longer for a player to reach the next shuffle when green cards and junk cards is held within a player’s hand. The reaching of the next shuffle take longer because the player holds green and junk cards within there hand.

Thinning a player’s deck is the removal of green or junk cards from the deck. Thinning can be used to reduce the cycle length of the Dominion cards within a player’s deck. Removing estates and curses from a player’s deck through thinning will drop the cycle length that is created by that player’s deck.

Thus, dropping the cycle length will allow a player to draw the needed cards. An archetype is a strategy that a player selects for they Dominion deck. Each archetype have different target ranges for the calculator for Dominion.

For instance, a rush strategy for the archetype will allow for more dead cards within a player’s hand than an engine strategy for Dominion. The same type of deck ratio may be acceptable for a rush strategy yet unacceptable for an engine strategy. Thus, a player must adjust the settings for the archetype within the calculator to obtain an accurate determination of the strength of their Dominion deck.

The calculator sends signals to a player that indicate to the player that the ratio of the different types of cards within the deck is incorrect. For instance, if the risk of encountering a terminal card increase yet the number of villages that the player purchases provide little cover for the player, then the calculator will signal to the player that they should purchase more villages. Additionally, if the risk of green drag increases yet the draw rate for the player does not increase according, the player knows that their window to purchase provinces is closing.

A player should use this calculator as a means of continually checking their Dominion deck because the composition of the deck change with every card that a player gains or trashes. A deck that was balanced during turn six of a players game may not be balanced after turn twelve. Therefore, the player should of use the calculator again after making any key purchase within their game.

Dominion Deck Ratio Calculator for Engine Balance

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