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« on: April 25, 2022, 01:41:13 am »
Alphabetically: Augurs, Clashes, Forts, Odysseys, Townsfolk, Wizards
I'll start!
6. Townsfolk
These are all fine cards that don't hurt most decks, but the only great one in the bunch is Miller. The Elder combo with the other Townsfolk is fine, but it's harder to set up and not notably better than, say, activated Conspirators. You will find yourself playing Town Crier and Blacksmith for +1 Card +1 Action quite a lot even in a deck with Elders, when you don't draw the Elders at the right time. Often not worth the opportunity cost of getting it set up.
5. Wizards
This is the hardest pile to rank, since Student is situationally a fantastic trasher: the right Ally makes the Favor amazing, and it also depends on the kingdom how long you are willing to have low-quality hands and keep trashing coppers. Conjurer is a bit of a disappointment -- leaping back to your next hand is only good if you have the terminal space for it -- and Sorcerer's failure to stack is rough for a curser that's already tricky to obtain in a timely fashion, on a board where there's always good trashing. Lich is also quite situational, but usually on the weak side-- it can be strong with trash-for-benefit, but its on-play "reverse Tactician" cost is enormous, and the lack of +Buy makes the penalty extra terrifying. Even with trash-for-benefit, tossing your Lich often forces you to gain unwanted garbage.
4. Forts
The problem with this pile is that Tent is a rather clunky card -- good at making you rich when you open it, but gets in the way, and if you get to play it twice on the second shuffle, your other opening had better be non-terminal. Meanwhile, as soon as you expose Garrison, your opponent can get one without a Tent in the way.
Garrison is the stand-out, great for setting up mega-turns, although you need extra actions to play Garrison and then gain more than one or two cards. Hill Fort is great when there are 4s you want (e.g. the ones providing those missing actions), and Stronghold is fine, probably a little worse than Nobles.
3. Clashes
There's enough attacks in this pile that Battle Plan is a semi-lab even without others on the board. Since Warlord is coming, it still can be risky to grab more than two. The ability to rotate any pile in the game is funny, but in practice doesn't do so much. Archer is good, but the attack doesn't stack. Warlord is semi-obnoxious but easy to plan around; the +1 Action and +2 Cards next turn makes it worth picking up at its price point regardless. Territory is OK, but you don't usually have to think about it too much. It's roughly a duchy alternative, better if there are alt VP cards, wild if there are castles. The gold gain is nice but usually happens quite late.
2. Odysseys
My favorite of these piles. Old Map is a good opener as you'll usually have an Estate to discard, but is much worse than a lab by the mid-game. Voyage turns are stackable, but it's hard to do much; better if there's trashing or cursing or other needs. Sunken Treasure is a standout. Distant Shore is better than Nobles, but not by a lot, and you do need to plan around those extra estates.
1. Augurs
Herb Gatherer is a good opener and becomes fabulous as soon as you have a Gold. The Chancellor effect is weak by itself but quite strong when you are rushing to cycle the augurs.
Acolyte is the weakest card in the pile, although you're happy when you draw her with an estate, and she literally turns herself into a better augur for you (something transmute has never done).
Sibyl is perhaps the strongest lab variant in the game, and the combo with Sorceress is straightforward. Even if you have to flat guess on Sorceress, with decent deck-tracking you're right roughly half the time
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