How exciting, I get to introduce a new list! These are the Projects. They are shiny and new, and everyone usually always buys whichever ones are on the table, or uh the screen. Turns out that’s not a bad move; over half the Projects received a vote for first, so they're all pretty good. This speaks to the balance of Renaissance, and also to the strength of Projects. There's no previous year's ranking to compare this to, but I'll still say some things from up on this here soapbox (no puns this time, I promise).
| #20 Road Network Weighted Average: 12.58% / Unweighted Average: 16.67% / Median: 5.26% / Standard Deviation: 23.19%
Many don’t see the value of Road Network. To them I say, play some 4-player games. Something has to be last, though.
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| #19 Exploration Weighted Average: 16.43% / Unweighted Average: 18.00% / Median: 10.53% / Standard Deviation: 22.91%
We're comparing different costs here, so one of the main things to note is, can I open this? And with Exploration you can, but that won't usually be great. Hermit and Mission do a lot to make not buying cards worth your while; Exploration is currently regarded as Bathsy. It needs combos to truly shine, which makes it a bit narrow, and narrow things don't rank highly here.
I do believe Exploration to be high-skill, and expect it to move up the ranks with time.
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| #18 City Gate Weighted Average: 29.39% / Unweighted Average: 33.89% / Median: 26.32% / Standard Deviation: 26.32%
Another Project you can open, but probably shouldn't. Sometimes City Gate is key to kicking off your turn, but often your engine is already working anyway. And if you don't have an engine, would a Silver have been more useful? Once you've bought City Gate, it can be hard to say whether your game would have played more or less the same without it.
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| #17 Crop Rotation Weighted Average: 32.37% / Unweighted Average: 38.75% / Median: 31.58% / Standard Deviation: 24.55%
These next two Projects help you plow through your starting cards. I think that's a large part of why they're ranked low: ideally you're trashing those starting cards. Projects are a steal because you pay once and get the benefit every turn, instead of cards you only use once per shuffle (not now, Scheme). The problem here is that $6 isn't really a steal.
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| #16 Silos Weighted Average: 34.73% / Unweighted Average: 33.69% / Median: 26.32% / Standard Deviation: 25.55%
I reason that this ranks higher than Crop Rotation becaue it's cheaper, and because you can Cellar any number of Coppers (as opposed to Shepherding only one Victory card). You're ideally trashing your Coppers, so Silos is maybe a bit narrow? It's not like Silos is bad, but something has to be 16th.
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| #15 Barracks Weighted Average: 37.30% / Unweighted Average: 42.54% / Median: 47.37% / Standard Deviation: 23.19%
That lonely man is ruing his lot in life: I should have stayed in school, those guys at the Academy know way more about Actions than me. It's a village that starts working soon as you buy it, that can be nice. But by the time you get to buying Barracks, you likely already have villages. Plus some turns you didn't need the extra Action, some turns you needed 2 extra Actions, and well have I mentioned Academy yet?
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| #14 Fair Weighted Average: 40.09% / Unweighted Average: 41.39% / Median: 36.84% / Standard Deviation: 20.73%
Sometimes you just really need an extra Buy. Fair's got you covered.
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| #13 Guildhall Weighted Average: 42.51% / Unweighted Average: 41.58% / Median: 36.84% / Standard Deviation: 27.63%
How often do you want a deck of Treasures? *Puts out Guildhall.* How about now?
It paints a silver lining around opponents' Mountebanks, and gives a buff to Treasure-gaineres. But usually you have to already want those cards, you're not building a Bureaucrat deck just because Guildhall is around.
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| #12 Pageant Weighted Average: 44.32% / Unweighted Average: 44.30% / Median: 42.11% / Standard Deviation: 24.62%
The dream of having an overpay-for-Coffers card lives through in this. Opening Pageant sounds promising, but apparently the gameplay stats are showing it is largely a trap. It's also not every day you see Ryan Laukat commissioned for something that's not a Treasure. There are a lot of days, you see.
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| #11 Piazza Weighted Average: 44.39% / Unweighted Average: 42.28% / Median: 36.84% / Standard Deviation: 25.08%
You buy Herald plenty, and Piazza wants to get in on the fun. You can debate in the comments how justified the comparison is. We want there to be discussion on these forums, and I'm here for you.
Guildhall was above Piazza in the List of Best $5 Cards.
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| #10 Canal Weighted Average: 45.73% / Unweighted Average: 49.24% / Median: 47.37% / Standard Deviation: 26.65%
Kicking off the top 10 is Canal. You can make whatever comparisons to Highway or the Key. But you can't really go wrong with Canal, except maybe trash for benefit.
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| #9 Innovation Weighted Average: 56.98% / Unweighted Average: 57.78% / Median: 63.16% / Standard Deviation: 24.30%
The weighted average for Innovation is a jump up from Canal, so we're in a new tier here. A Projects ranking by the Discord community had Innovation 4 places higher, the biggest difference between that list and this one. I dunno, seemed worth noting. The $6 cost means you can't just pick it up willy nilly, and recognizing when it's good is what separates the wheat from the chaff.
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| #8 Fleet Weighted Average: 58.73% / Unweighted Average: 55.26% / Median: 57.89% / Standard Deviation: 26.76%
The artwork is very ominous. At worst, Fleet is a delayed Duchy (a pretty high floor). At best, it defends against 3-piling. And maybe some other things, I personally still get psyched out by Fleet games, but I think you usually always buy it?
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| #7 Capitalism Weighted Average: 59.04% / Unweighted Average: 60.18% / Median: 57.89% / Standard Deviation: 17.65%
Capitalism is by far the most exotic Project. Some boards it might do absolutely nothing; it doesn’t have a setup clause to ensure Actions with +$ amounts are around. But when it’s good, it’s good. Really good. Still, I suspect this one to fall a rank or two as the hype wears off, and its niche-ness settles in.
Fleet and Capitalism were swapped in the List of Best $5 Cards, so are essentially neck and neck.
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| #6 Citadel Weighted Average: 59.50% / Unweighted Average: 63.52% / Median: 63.16% / Standard Deviation: 23.54%
For those keeping count, the top 5 Projects after this are all ones that you could open. One might infer from that that the best Projects are ones you get the most turns with. But that’s not for me to say. Anyway, before those we have Citadel. You can’t (usually) open it. Despite that, it’s #6, which means its effect is pretty sweet. Spiking is important here, like with Inheritance. It’s not a Princed Throne Room; make sure the first Action you play each turn gives +1 Action.
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| #5 Sewers Weighted Average: 71.39% / Unweighted Average: 69.96% / Median: 78.95% / Standard Deviation: 24.59%
Without another trasher around, Sewers does nothing. Fortunately Renaissance comes with plenty of trashing. So, when there is trashing around, Sewers doubles it. It pairs nicely with trashers that are restricted to what they can trash or where they can trash from.
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| #4 Academy Weighted Average: 72.00% / Unweighted Average: 68.77% / Median: 78.95% / Standard Deviation: 24.38%
It looks so innocent, but man. Academy can be bonkers, almost letting you entirely skip other villages (I said almost, OK). Probably don't open it on $5/$2, but don't wait too long. It also makes you think twice about Maraudering or Cultisting.
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| #3 Sinister Plot Weighted Average: 75.74% / Unweighted Average: 70.58% / Median: 78.95% / Standard Deviation: 24.07%
What is so sinister about this plot? It seems very above board to me. Even if you're using it as an every-other-turn-Flag, that's not bad for $4. The time-value-of-Projects principle very much applies here: the sooner you buy it, the more time you have to benefit from it.
The top 3 Projects together received 75% of the first place votes.
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| #2 Star Chart Weighted Average: 80.97% / Unweighted Average: 73.24% / Median: 89.47% / Standard Deviation: 28.35%
If you don't yet think this deserves do be this high, just try buying it. And don't forget IRL to topdeck something.
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| #1 Cathedral Weighted Average: 85.73% / Unweighted Average: 77.90% / Median: 94.74% / Standard Deviation: 32.27%
Unsurprisingly, Cathedral sits on top (bottom?) of these rankings. It received by far the most votes for first, 15 of them (there were 31 voters). It's basically the Donate Project; what else is there to say that we don’t already know? Trashing is great, and a one-time investment in this gets you trashing every turn for the rest of the game, buyer beware. It has its pitfalls of course; we've all been burned by Cathedral. Watch out for their Militias and your Alchemists.
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That's all for the Projects, check back tomorrow for the grand finale: Boons and Hexes.