 | #30 Ironworks (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 25.92 / Median: 27.5 / Mode: 30 / Standard Deviation: 8.6
Highest Rank(s): #4 (1x), #8 (1x), #9 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #36 (2x), #39 (2x)
Ironworks is the next card after a big 4.3 point gap. This means it's the worst card of the mediocre ones. The average being 4 points higher than the actual rank shows also that the next cards are very close together and perhaps needed more players sending in lists. Ironworks has some really high outliers, with one being on #4.
Ironworks is the superior Workshop which was pretty low on the $3 list. Does it deserve a higher rating on the $4 list? The biggest bonus for getting a lot of wanted action cards like Caravan is: Ironworks is non-terminal. So you can get Ironworks with Ironworks and then quickly get Caravans or other $4 cards. Being an Intrigue card it also combos nice with dual-type cards, so getting Great Halls or Islands makes Ironworks a cantrip. And it also works better in Gardens or Silk Road games for getting an additional card and increasing the probability getting to $4. But it lacks the same problem as Workshop: How many $4 cards do you want? So many times Ironworks is skippable.
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 | #29 Remodel (Base) Weighted Average: 25.08 / Median: 23 / Mode: 22 / Standard Deviation: 9.1
Highest Rank(s): #2 (1x), #8 (1x), #10 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #36 (1x), #39 (1x), #42 (1x)
Remodel is the card with the highest deviation so far. It was even second once, but also second last. What could be the reason? As a side note Remodel would be #26 in the unweighted ranking, so it seems that unexperienced players overrate it.
Remodel introduced us to the cards that trash for a better card. As a opener it has big problems trashing the Coppers, because you need either good $2 cards on the board you want in masses like Fool's Gold or Lighthouse or you need to remodel in 2 steps (Estate to Silver or another $3-$4 card) which is not really a good idea. But Remodel is good in the later game. Just remodel your money in the respective victory card. It seems some of you take the opener qualities more into account while others did it vice versa, maybe therefore the high variance.
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 | #28 Silk Road (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 24.89 / Median: 22.5 / Mode: 17 / Standard Deviation: 9.9
Highest Rank(s): #7 (2x), #15 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #39 (1x), #41 (1x), #42 (1x)
Silk Road now has the same problem as I mentioned already a lot of times. How do you rank Victory cards? It has the fourth highest deviation of all $4 cards. It has also a very high mode with ranking on #17 6 times.
Silk Road plays similarly to Gardens. You have to rush them, with support of Workshop/Ironworks and/or additional buys for double Estates in the end game. You can pick Gardens up in the late game without rushing them and they are mostly worth 3VP like a Duchy. That's mostly not the case with Silk Road, you need a special strategy for them. But Silk Road is great with a board with dual-type victory cards like Island, Nobles or Harem. I think personal preference has played a big role with that card and I think many still have not much experience with this card what may result in this high variance.
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 | #27 Trader (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 24.29 / Median: 25.5 / Mode: 33 / Standard Deviation: 9.1
Highest Rank(s): #6 (1x), #8 (1x), #11 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #37 (1x), #38 (1x), #42 (1x)
Trader has a significant worse Median than the last two cards and the Mode is much worse too. But the ranks of the better players made the small difference.
Trader is - like all Reaction cards - very situational. It's Silver gaining defense is mostly stronger than Watchtower's trashing, so you have to think twice if you really want to play that Curse-giving attack or another card that deals out junk and give your opponent a free Silver, especially with Mountebank on the board for 2 Silvers. Silver is a good opener in non-Colony Big Money games too, so you can trash Estates for 2 Silvers. It's also good with Gardens, eventually trashing a Silver to 3 Silvers. But in all other boards Trader is simply a no-go. So, it deserves this high deviation.
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 | #26 Cutpurse (Seaside) Weighted Average: 23.79 / Median: 25.5 / Mode: 36 / Standard Deviation: 10.2
Highest Rank(s): #10 (2x), #13 (3x) / Lowest Rank(s): #41 (2x), #43 (1x)
Cutpurse has the second highest deviation of all $4 cards. And it has a even worse Mode and the same bad Median as Trader. And it is the last card with a last place. If we would take the unweighted average into account, Cutpurse would be only on #30, so unexperienced players seem to underrate it.
Cutpurse is a pretty good opener. It's a terminal Silver that can even hit harder than Militia. In the beginning where every coin is important to get to $5, Cutpurse can be really annoying. And it is even worse in games with more than 2 players where you can lose multiple Coppers in one turn. Yes, later it gets worse and worse and is nothing but a terminal Silver where you can see your opponents hand. So this card is of course very difficult to rank and has therefore the second highest deviation like every card, which is pretty good opener and gets worse afterwards, has a high variation.
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 | #25 Baron (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 23.61 / Median: 23.5 / Mode: 30 / Standard Deviation: 7.7
Highest Rank(s): #6 (1x), #7 (2x) / Lowest Rank(s): #30 (3x), #32 (1x), #36 (1x)
Baron only has a 0.18 point lead over Cutpurse. Baron is the first card which has no rank in the bottom 5 and has some pretty high ranks too.
Baron is very interesting as it gives you a very high probability getting Gold early, but is very swingy too. If you cannot draw your Baron with an Estate, this is dead card in the beginning, because you mostly don't want another Estate (and getting Estate for feeding your Baron is mostly no good idea). But as the game goes on, the probability decreases drawing an Estate with Baron. In the middle game Baron is most of the time no good card, but later in the game it can you net another point and gives you a +Buy too. If you're going to trash your Estates, don't buy a Baron and if you have a deck that can guarantee an Estate in every hand, like multiple Hunting Parties, Baron can very powerful. So, Baron is very situational and a rank in the middle of the $4 cards seems deserved.
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 | #24 Quarry (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 23.42 / Median: 24 / Mode: 24 / Standard Deviation: 7.5
Highest Rank(s): #5 (1x), #8 (1x), #11 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #33 (2x), #37 (1x)
Quarry has only a 0.19 point lead too. With rank #24 and the same Median and Mode, there is no doubt here. The unweighted average is worse than Baron's. So Quarry might be underrated by newer players.
Quarry is very situational too. For action cards, this is basically a Gold you can pick up in the opening turns. So if you want many action cards and have additional buys too, Quarry is your card to go for, for example with Goons. But in the later game when you picking up victory cards, you wish this weren't only a Copper.
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 | #23 Worker's Village (Prosperity) Weighted Average: 21.23 / Median: 19.5 / Mode: 24 / Standard Deviation: 6.6
Highest Rank(s): #10 (1x), #11 (2x) / Lowest Rank(s): #29 (2x), #30 (1x), #37 (1x)
With Worker's Village we have a card with low deviation for a middle-ranked card. It was only one time below #30, but has on the other side no one-digit rank. And compared to the cards before, it has a really high Medium.
If you build an action engine, you need villages and strong terminals. But then you realize you have a strong engine producing so much money and have no +Buy. With Worker's Village you don't need an additional card for that - you have it included in your village which is great. It's also great picking up additional Peddlers in masses and with Goons where you need as many buys as you can get. But when you just need a simple village and don't plan to get more than $8 or $11 respectively, other villages for $4 are probably better. So this is the third best village out of four in your $4 list.
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 | #22 Spice Merchant (Hinterlands) Weighted Average: 21.14 / Median: 20 / Mode: 14 / Standard Deviation: 8.9
Highest Rank(s): #3 (1x), #10 (1x), #11 (2x) / Lowest Rank(s): #35 (1x), #37 (1x), #38 (1x)
Spice Merchant has only a 0.09 point lead over Worker's Village, a close call. With a really big outlier on #3 and more bad rankings than Worker's Village, its higher deviation is no surprise. Spice Merchant would be #23 in the unweighted ranking.
Spice Merchant is a very flexible trasher and the comparism to Moneylender is obvious. It produces less money for the cost of an additional buy. It can really shine if you want a non-terminal trasher (its option +2 cards, +1 action basically restores the hand size) and if there's no other +Buy and you really need one. It's therefore more flexible (not limited to Copper and two options to choose from) but a slower opener as it's harder to get to $5 early on. It may be still useful later on, but it can lead to very hard decisions if you really want to trash that Silver.
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 | #21 Farming Village (Cornucopia) Weighted Average: 20.81 / Median: 20 / Mode: 20 / Standard Deviation: 7.0
Highest Rank(s): #5 (1x), #10 (1x), #11 (3x) / Lowest Rank(s): #30 (1x), #31 (1x), #34 (1x)
Farming Village's stats are similar to the Worker's Village ones. With a big outlier on #5 it has a slightly higher deviation. It has a slightly worse Median and a better Mode. It would be on #19 taking the unweighted average into account, so it seems overrated by newer players.
Farming Village is the second best $4 Village. The additional ability of this village is always useful and a good counter in cursing games and against top-decking attacks like Rabble. And later in the game where you are heavily greening its additional ability is very useful too. You may even pick it up if you don't necessarily need the actions and just want to have its filter ability.
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 | #20 Island (Seaside) Weighted Average: 20.24 / Median: 21 / Mode: 21 / Standard Deviation: 8.5
Highest Rank(s): #2 (1x), #5 (1x), #10 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #31 (1x), #34 (1x), #35 (1x)
Island has two really high outliers, one even being second. Both the Median and the Mode are lower than Farming Village.
Island does pseudo-trashing with the addition of giving additional points. So you can use it for pseudo-trashing the Estates without losing the points and later in the game you can pick it up and take your Provinces out of your deck. It can really be great with Silk Road on the board. It is rarely a game-changer, but can be a nice addition to some decks to keep them clean. And even in cursing games with no trashers, you can take Curses out of your deck for a total net of +1 point.
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 | #19 Mining Village (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 20.11 / Median: 20 / Mode: 26 / Standard Deviation: 7.0
Highest Rank(s): #6 (1x), #7 (1x), #9 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #28 (3x), #33 (1x), #34 (1x)
Another close call for Mining Village: Only 0.13 point-lead over Island. Comparing this Village with the stats of the last ones, it has clearly higher ranks with 3 times in the Top 10 and similar ranks in the lower regions. It also has the same deviation range as the other Villages.
Mining Village is a normal Village with a one-shot Silver possibility. If you need a Village you can use that one-shot self-trashing option later in the game when you give up your engine and fully commit on going green or have bad luck late in the game and only hit $6 or $7. And even if you doesn't have a engine and are going basically big money, you can buy this in the mid-game when you miss $6 for a Gold and don't want another Silver in your deck, because this still gives you the additional card and the $2 of a Silver. And if you have enough money and no additional buy you can save the one-shot Silver for later.
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 | #18 Throne Room (Base) Weighted Average: 18.72 / Median: 15.5 / Mode: 27 / Standard Deviation: 9.1
Highest Rank(s): #3 (1x), #6 (2x) / Lowest Rank(s): #32 (1x), #35 (1x), #36 (1x)
A tiny jump to the next two interesting cards. Throne Room has a clearly higher Median with a higher deviation. The high Median shows, that when it got a low ranking, it got a really low ranking.
I was curious how Throne Room was going to perform as Throne Room for itself basically does nothing and is highly dependant on the other cards on the board. It can be so strong, especially with strong attacks and with card drawers too. But nothing is more depressing than drawing Throne Room with no other action card. So you need a high action density and hope to draw it with that card you really want to double. You can also use it as a pseudo-village if there's no-one available and really need one, if you double a cantrip. Throne Room can really be a game-changer, especially if you have the luck and draw it with the right cards.
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 | #17 Conspirator (Intrigue) Weighted Average: 18.34 / Median: 18.5 / Mode: 24 / Standard Deviation: 7.6
Highest Rank(s): #1 (1x), #5 (1x), #7 (1x) / Lowest Rank(s): #26 (1x), #27 (1x), #33 (1x)
Here's the first card that got first and least once. Its Median is clearly worse than Throne Room's Median, but nearer to its actual ranking.
Conspirator is so strong, but heavily depends on supporting cards that have to be non-terminal. Duration cards also help to activate Conspirator, but cheap action cards like Wishing Well, Pearl Diver or Hamlet that you can pick up in masses, especially with additional buys are great with Conspirator. You want thin decks with high action density. With that big support, this is a Grand Market just without the additional buy. In all other cases, you have to skip over Conspirator, because it's just a terminal Silver then.
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Topic: The Best Dominion Cards List 2012 Ed.1: $4 cards (Read 61451 times)