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[ednever]

I thought about writing an article on this, but I'm not really qualified.

A few very powerful cards you ignore at your peril are Chapel, Ambassador and Masquerade. (Obviously you don't always want to trash, but much of the time you do)

Every now and then you end up with more than one of the three cards in the Kingdom. I'm usually at a loss on which to open with. The answer, as always is "it depends on the rest of the Kingdom."

I'd love to start a discussion on what that "depends" means.

Here are my initial thoughts:

(1) When trashing a lot is paramount (i.e., Some sort of Conspirator chain, or something with Villages and Bridges without significant draw)
Open Chapel+ Masquerade and trash double and fast

(2) When Cursers are present
Open Ambassador. Ignore the cursers and fire it back at the other player

(3) When you want to go some variation on Big Money
Open Masquerade and ignore the other two

(4) If you aren't sure
The default I think is Ambassador?

Here are the conditional Stats from CouncilRoom: http://councilroom.com/supply_win?targets=Cards%3E%3D3&interaction=Actions%3E%3D2%26%26Cost%3C%3D4&nested=false&unconditional=true

It may be difficult to make conclusions from this as most of the time with two good players they will both be gaining one or more of these cards, so the results may be unbalanced by new players. But here's what the list says:

1- Masquerade
2- Ambassador
3- Ambassador if Masquerade is present
4- Chapel
5- Masquerade if Chapel is present
6- Masquerade if Chapel AND Ambassador are present
7- Ambassador if Chapel is present
8- Chapel if Masquerade is present
9- Chapel if Masquerade AND Ambassador are present
10- Chapel if Ambassador is present
11- Chapel if Masquerade is present
12- Ambassador if Chapel AND Masquerade are present
13- Masquerade if Ambassador is present

So that means the ranking based on what is present are:

Two Cards:
Chapel+Ambassador: Ambassador
Chapel+Masq: Masq
Amb+Masq: Amb

Three Cards:
Chapel+Amb+Masq: Masq (second option Chapel)

Which means that Amb > Masq > Chapel (I think I could have guessed that), but if all three are present at the same time then Masq > Chapel > Amb


Thoughts?

Ed

[Robz888]

You say that when "trashing a lot is paramount" you would open Chapel + Masquerade. I don't think so. I don't like that opening at all, really, because of the risk of Masquerade drawing Chapel dead.

I think if you are going for some sort of engine, you are not going to use Masq. You want just Chapel, or Ambassador/Ambassador.

[RisingJaguar]

Remake definitely has to be in this conversation.  Especially since it does something useful with the estates. 

The thing that sets ambassador apart is when there are cantrips, especially if they are useful.  I know this is more of a general one-size fits all but thought that it should be noted.

[verikt]

I'm not sure about stats, but let's try logic. Masq is a good counter to chapel. Why? Because if he got rid of his bad cards, you're giving him crap for something good. Ambassador may be better than chapel. Depending on the board. Even though you can only trash 2 to his 4, you're also spamming him. Masq vs. Amb? I don't know why you think amb is better. OK, I'm giving you two crap, and your masq is only giving me back one. (and drawing 2) Presumably you're both trying to build up to decent cards. If amb gets there first then masq should do the same thing to it that it does to chapel.

[Asklepios]

I'd say Masquerade when you need the draw, Ambassadors when your opponent is trying to build an engine, and Chapel when neither of the above are available.

Probably over simplistic, but works for me.

[Davio]

I like Masq with Cursers maybe more than Ambassador.

This is because for Trashers to work effectively, they have to see a lot of your cards to be able to pick the right one.
With Masq you get to see 6 cards from your deck (and 1 from your opponent) before you trash one.
With Ambassador you only get to see 4 and while you can 'trash' 2, they have to be the same. Most of the times you can either send back 1 Estate or 2 Coppers. Sending back 2 Estates or 2 Curses needs a bit of luck (or an engine).