Diplomat Strategy

Any-suit building opens the board — but the single stock pass closes it faster than you expect.

Diplomat is a more accessible version of Napoleon at St Helena because tableau sequences build downward regardless of suit rather than same-suit only. This dramatically reduces blockage. The catch is the same single-pass stock: every card drawn from the stock is seen exactly once, so the expanded tableau freedom must be used actively before each draw, not relied upon after.

Play Diplomat General strategy

Last updated: June 2026

The Forty Thieves family

Diplomat belongs to the Forty Thieves family of two-deck patience games. The family is named after its most famous member (Napoleon at St Helena / Forty Thieves) and characterized by: two standard decks, ten tableau columns starting with four face-up cards each, eight foundations building upward by suit from Ace to King, and a single-pass stock.

Within the family, variants are distinguished primarily by the tableau build rule:

Napoleon at St Helena: Same-suit only downward build. Hardest variant.
Diplomat: Any-suit downward build. More accessible than Napoleon at St Helena.
Emperor: Alternating-color downward build with unlimited stock passes. Easiest common variant.

Diplomat sits between Napoleon at St Helena and Emperor in difficulty: it removes the same-suit restriction but keeps the single-pass stock. Understanding this positioning explains which habits transfer from easier games and which need adjustment.

Full rules

Two 52-card decks (104 cards). Ten tableau columns each receive four face-up cards (40 total). The remaining 64 cards form the stock, dealt one at a time to a waste pile; the stock cannot be recycled. Eight foundations build upward by suit from Ace to King.

Tableau columns build downward by rank, any suit — a 7 of any suit can go on an 8 of any suit. Only one card moves at a time (no group moves). Empty columns accept any single card. Win when all 104 cards reach the eight foundations.

What any-suit building changes

In Napoleon at St Helena, a card has at most two legal tableau destinations (both copies of the one-rank-higher same-suit card). In Diplomat, the same card has up to eight legal destinations: both copies of every one-rank-higher card, regardless of suit. This fourfold expansion in destination options means:

Blocking is much rarer. A card that cannot move in Napoleon at St Helena because both same-suit 8s are occupied often has four or more non-same-suit 8 options in Diplomat.
Tableau chains are longer and more productive. With multiple destination options per card, it is easier to make three or four consecutive tableau moves in Diplomat before reaching a dead end.
Empty columns matter less as emergency escapes. Because most cards can move without empty columns, empty columns in Diplomat are staging tools rather than critical blockers.

The consequence for strategy: in Diplomat, you should almost always be able to make tableau moves before drawing from stock. If no tableau move is available at all, that is a genuinely stuck position in Diplomat (not just a normal state as it frequently is in Napoleon at St Helena).

Single-pass stock discipline: the shared constraint

Unlike Emperor (which allows multiple stock passes), Diplomat shares Napoleon at St Helena’s single-pass rule. Every waste card is seen exactly once. This is the primary source of difficulty in Diplomat.

The strategic rhythm that avoids wasting the single pass:

Exhaust tableau moves first. With any-suit building, there are usually multiple productive tableau moves available. Make them all before drawing.
Play the waste top immediately if it has a destination. When a waste card surfaces as the top and can go to a foundation or tableau, play it before drawing the next stock card. This prevents it from being buried.
Draw only when genuinely stuck.A “stuck” position in Diplomat means no tableau move exists and no current waste top can be played. This should be uncommon in the early game; if it happens frequently, the tableau has become congested.

The cost of drawing too early

Drawing from stock without exhausting tableau moves is the main way to lose Diplomat. Each premature draw adds a card to the waste that now requires earlier waste cards to be cleared before it can resurface in pass two — which does not exist. Plan as many tableau moves as possible before each draw.

Foundation sequencing: getting both Aces per suit

With two copies of each card, each suit has two Aces that both need to reach separate foundations. Getting the first Ace of a suit to a foundation is usually straightforward; getting the second Ace of the same suit often requires more planning because both copies compete for the same space in the tableau.

When both Aces of a suit surface early, route one to a foundation immediately and keep the other in a safe tableau position (not buried deep). When only one Ace is visible and the other has not surfaced, use the foundation started by the first Ace to absorb subsequent rank cards as they become available.

Scenario: managing two Aces of the same suit

Both A♠ appear early: one is the waste top, one is a tableau column top. The Spades foundations have no cards yet.

Play both to separate foundations immediately — both start their respective Spades foundations (2♠ needed next on each). When the first 2♠ appears, it can advance either Spades foundation. Track both Spades foundations as a pair: both need to advance in sync so that both copies of each rank advance through the sequence. Missing one 2♠ early leaves one Spades foundation stuck while the other advances, and the second 2♠ may not surface before the stock exhausts.

Where Diplomat games go wrong

Drawing from stock when tableau moves are available. Any-suit building means there are almost always tableau moves in Diplomat. Drawing prematurely is the primary source of loss.
Applying Napoleon at St Helena habits to Diplomat. In Napoleon at St Helena, drawing is often the only option because same-suit blocks everything. In Diplomat, that is rarely true. Actively look for any-suit moves before each draw.
Ignoring foundation balance across eight positions. With eight foundations (two per suit), it is easy to advance one suit rapidly while another stalls. Check periodically that all four suits are receiving cards from both tableau and waste sources.
Building very long tableau sequences instead of routing to foundations.Any-suit building enables long tableau chains, but the goal is to get cards to foundations, not to build impressive tableau columns. Foundation placement always takes priority over tableau building.