Main Page/Establishment Democrat
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A deck for the experienced Democrat politician. |
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The Establishment Deck is one of the two most common decks in the game alongside Establishment Republican, being used by 5 different Democratic candidates. This is the ideal deck for any Democrat with legislative or political experience, extending to many Senators, Representatives, and even party elites.
This card set was introduced as part of the original playtest alongside several other essential card sets on February 21st, 2024 (see: Patch Notes).
Introduction
 The Establishment Democrat is the foremost way to pull levers and play the political game.
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Card Types
Neutral
These cards can be taken advantage of by anyone when used, and are preferable when you don't have much of a strong deck to play, or when you may simply have the stronger position or candidate stats to back it up. The analyst in particular can be used to frequently alternate between cards and force deck reshuffles, making it one of the most unique cards in the game, exclusive only to the Establishment Democrat set.
Enthusiasm
When it comes to shaping enthusiasm, there are 3 different enthusiasm operatives to do so, giving the player all the basic tools to shape up a national campaign without specifically focusing on one type of card type over any others. Although you may have 3 celebrity endorsements under your belt should you need the national boost, just make sure that those enthusiasm scores don't bottom out to zero after you play them.
Defense
When it comes to countering problematic cards, getting a lock on the situation with fixers and maverick reformers is pertinent to curbing your opponent's most valuable tools. Keep note of how many fixers and maverick reformers that may have been expended, as it will be important to space them out should opponents use it as an opening to plop down endorsements, or other powerful cards that may give them a crucial opening. Should you need to secure an endorsement, the Spy Network can be used to waste an enemy Fixer and will be helpful in stopping opponents from trying to thwart your state operations allowing for nasty surprises on your opponent.
Offense
The Crooked Prosecutor is one of the best cards when it comes to simply securing an advantage. Not only can it be used right before an election, but unless they have a Bodyguard they will be short a turn, missing out on crucial political opportunities, speeches, and most importantly: valuable campaign time. You have only one of these, so use it wisely!
Operatives
The operatives from the classic Political Machine series are here! The Establishment Democrat deck in particular has 3 Spin Doctors to work with, with one of them being an expert, as well as an additional smear merchant. These are powerful tools in primaries, and can hold as much weight as certain Think Tank HQ upgrades making them effective for changing the margins on the map.
Speeches
When it comes to getting the most out of your speeches, you have a Stump Speech Expert and Speech Personalizer that when timed and placed well, can be used to increase your speed effectiveness by 50%. Thankfully speech cards are low on the totem pole when it comes to cards your opponent will try to counter, meaning you will be able to get constant mileage out of them when they are effectively used.
Endorsements
When it comes to getting a 2% boost across the map and bringing important issues to the top of the state table, with strong issue scores to boot, then these issue Endorsements will be your most crucial step towards affecting the state of the race. Your opponents, players and AI included, will make high priority of these cards, so secure and time them wisely!
Political Capital
These are some of your best cards when it comes to giving you the direct upper hand. Not only is your Lobbying Team and Lobbyist powerful means of racking up PC gain, but should your opponent ignore it, you will be seeing your political capital double or even tripled throughout the course of the entire game, making them centralizing factors in determining what goes on behind the scenes in the presidential race. A well timed expert opinion can deter your opponent from having the crucial capital to secure a necessary endorsement, and may help you around crucial election dates, or simply just secure your PC advantage. Uniquely you have the Party Hotshot card to gain PC for a cheap cost that cannot be fixered, however at the cost of -150k in Funds every turn.
Cash
If you need a quick cash infusion, plop down a Big Donor to save yourself valuable stamina and turns in fundraising, or maximize your fundraisers with the Event Coordinator to build up a campaign war chest that will last throughout the entire game. You might not even need Consulting Offices should you land one of these cards early in the game. Alternatively, should you need to save money when constructing a building, you can throw out the Experienced Builders card.
Update History
- Orientation and Identity Campaign
Orientation and Identity Campaign endorsement was removed, replaced with Environmental Protection Manual instead
- Donation Drive
- 1 Donation Drive was removed, replaced with Big Donor instead
- Expert Smear Merchant
- 1 Expert Smear Merchant was removed, replaced with a Spin Doctor instead
- Environmental Protection Manual
Environmental Protection Manual added, preserving the amount of Issue Endorsements at 5
- Big Donor
- 1 Big Donor was added, changing the total of Big Donors from 1 to 2
- Spin Doctor
- 1 Spin Doctor was added, changing the total of Spin Doctors from 1 to 2
